Forget Me Not
by elemeno
Summary: A young girl starts her Pokemon journey, and things appear to be going normally for her and her Abra. When she receives a bouquet of strange flowers, her world begins to collapse. Discontinued.
1. Prologue

**Forget Me Not**

**Prologue**

_What are you doing, Keiko? You okay?_

The young woman spun around, startled at the sudden question, but sighed in relief when she saw it was only her Kadabra, Rune. She nodded her head reassuringly at the psychic Pokemon, smiling weakly. "I'm fine."

_You don't sound fine. _He replied, looking over her. _You don't look fine, either. _He directed his worried gaze towards the bags under her green eyes, which seemed to have lost their luster from lack of sleep.

"I'm just fine, Rune." her glare hardened. "I've just been thinking, you know? ...Reminicsing." she gripped a pen tightly in her hand as she bit her lip. "It's been so long since we started our journey... So much has happened."

The Kadabra nodded, now staring at his feet nervously. I see. he paused for a moment, as he seemed to be thinking in a deep trance. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes as he quietly spoke, his voice barely audible. _Sometimes... I miss the others._

Keiko nodded sadly. "I do too, Rune. Sometimes when I'm dreaming, they're here... with us. And then I wake up, and they're gone. And there's only me and you." she closed her eyes as she choked on tears, letting them slide down her face.

Her eyes narrowed to a vase of seven violet flowers, called Forget-me-not's. The tears continued to come as she stared at five of them that were faded in color, tinted black, and drooping. The leaves were crinkling off as they died silently without complaint.

"Every time..." she wiped away her tears. "Every time one of them left us... a flower died." Keiko couldn't take her gaze off the last two, who flourished in colour, standing erect as they brimmed with life. Her stare turned into a fierce glare as she clenched her teeth. "And ours... they continue to live. While the others drop dead quietly. Look at those last two... they've been like that for dozens of years." she drooped her head, her auburn hair hiding the tears that were pouring down her face.

"It- it's just the kind of thing I thought happened to other people. Not us..."

Rune looked at her and shook his head. _And it's just so hard believing..._

"...That we're other people, too." The girl finished sadly, as both of them had memorized the phrase.

There was a long pause before the Pokemon began to walk off. _I'm going to sleep, Keiko. Good night._

Keiko sighed as she watched Rune walk off- he usually never slept. This was the complete opposite of the Rune she knew. But then again, neither of them had been the same lately.

She pressed the pen against the paper, thinking of what to write as it made an big ink blotch on her paper. She sighed, getting out a fresh sheet. "I know what to write about," she said quietly, "But I don't know where to start... I don't know if I can even remember clearly..."

Her eyes lit up for a moment as she thought of an idea. "I'll start when I started my journey," she said, a small smile appearing on her face. "From the beginning..." she frantically began to scratch out the words on the paper, writing out every detail she could manage- from the happy to the sad, from the fun to the frightening, the memories were flooding back already. And now... she was determined never to forget again...

"It was my thirteenth birthday when I began my journey..."


	2. Chapter 1

Forget Me Not - Chapter one

"Keiko?"

Mmm... the bed is so warm...

"Keiko, wake up, honey."

So comfy... never wanna get up...

"Keiko Aomari, get up! You'll be late!"

BAM! The moment that sentance was finished, something came crashing down onto my face as I shot up. I looked up, cringing as my face stung, to see my younger brother holding a pillow and my mother sitting on my bed.

"What the heck was that for, Shinjo! That hurt!" I glared at him and he whimpered and hid behind our mother.

Mother crossed her arms as she sighed, pointing to the clock- 8:45. "Keiko, you're going to be late. Today is the day you were going to get your first Pokemon, remember? The lab opened 15 minutes ago!"

I screamed as I shot out of bed, shoving my two family members out the door in a hurry. "Oh my god! I'm late! I have to get dressed!" I slammed the door and quickly slipped on a light blue tanktop and shorts, while at the same time fitting a white hat over my mess of auburn hair.

I took one last pit-stop to the mirror, just to make sure I was fit to go out on my journey. I cringed as I quickly brushed my brown hair behind my ears, and quickly throwing the brush to the ground, ignoring the fact that it had broken in half in my haste to get ready.

I scrambled down to the kitchen, putting a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave while staring angrily at it, screaming for it to hurry up and cook itself.

"For the love of god, Keiko! You're only 15 minutes late! It's not like they close any time soon!" My mom exclaimed as she watched me wolf down my oatmeal the moment the microwave beeped. "And chew your food! Getting yourself to the emergency room won't make you any earlier!"

I glared as I chewed the oatmeal slower, looking at the clock. 9:04. Forgetting about my hunger, I dumped the brown sludge in the garbage bin and grabbed my backpack, stuffing food and assorted things that I'd forgotten to pack earlier. "Mom, I'm gonna go now, okay? I don't want to be even more late." I slung the pack over my shoulder as she walked over to me. She looked close to tears.

"Oh, Keiko!" she threw her arms around me as she sobbed. "You're finally going to get your own Pokemon... your father will be so proud!" she let go once she heard me choking, and kissed me on the cheek and smiled at me. "I'll miss you, sweety. Promise you'll call?"

I sighed, but returned her smile. "Mom, you know I will. Stop worrying so much." I hugged Shinjo and mom before waving goodbye and grinning weakly, holding back the tears that threatened to pour out of my eyes.

I took one last look at my small neighborhood, puffed out my chest, fixed my hat, and grinned as I walked to the lab, ready to begin my journey.

---

"My name is Keiko Aomari, 13 years old, and my address is 14 Sakura street."

The lady at the counter nodded, and handed me my Trainer Card as I happily pranced off to where I could choose my Pokemon- finally. Of course, I never expected there to be such a long line with such slow people.

"I- I don't know. Could I see them all again, please?"

I tapped my foot impatiently as a ten year old boy stood in front of me, the Professor releasing the six Pokemon there were to choose from- an Eevee, Pikachu, Abra, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle- the most popular starters for their types. The boy nervously looked over them, as I clenched my fists.

"I'll... I'll take a Charmander, please. And could I have one that's really strong, and loves to fight? And loyal, and all that kind of stuff?" The boy said quietly, looking at the Charmander.

I sighed. It's typical that a stupid boy would pick a "strong loyal Charmander"- they only cared about fighting. Puh. I'd pick something better. Not a dumb Charmander. Not to say I don't like them, I think they're great, it's just...

"We have a whole bunch of Charmanders just like that. Here, take this one." The professer replied as he tossed the boy a Pokeball. "Next!"

I silently cheered and walked up to the Professer, eyeing the Pokemon that sat on a metal desk. They were all so cute, and it was hard to choose... The Bulbasaur, Eevee, and Abra were what I narrowed it down to after a few minutes of staring. Bulbasaurs- well, they were easy to raise, cute, and looked pretty powerful. Eevees could evolve into five different types, and that could be very useful. And Abras... well, I just held a special place in my heart for those little guys.

"I'll take an Abra." I finally said, smiling, proud of my decision. The prof, however, looked rather shocked. "Not many people take Abras. All of ours only know Teleport."

I shrugged. "I can deal with that. Do ya think you could have one that doesn't like to sleep much, and is a deep thinker. So I could... talk to him. About stuff." I chuckled a bit at my words.

"You could call yourself lucky." he replied, grabbing a ball and handing it to me. "We have one just like that. We're not sure why he doesn't sleep, but he appears to be normal otherwise."

"Thank you." I replied, holding in my excitment as I quickly turned away and walked out the door, staring at the red-and-white ball that was gripped in my hand.

I pressed the button in the middle so I could release my new Pokemon. A red beam emitted from the ball as it slowly took the shape of an Abra, sitting on the ground. "So you're my new Pokemon, eh?" I said, watching as it materialized into reality. He was small, and mostly yellow in color, with pointed ears. His eyes were shut, and he appeared to be wearing... armor? Brown armor-like cloth was rested over his upper body.

_Who are you? Are you my trainer? _spoke the Abra, looking up quizzically at the young girl, who was grinning happily.

"Yes, I'm your new trainer. My name is Keiko... I don't suppose you have one, do you?" I could have screamed right then and there from being so estatic, but I held it in, making sure not to frighten my new companion.

_No, I do not. Are you going to name me? _He looked at me expectantly, waiting for a reply.

"Well... I guess I could, if you want to." I shrugged as I brushed the hair away from my face, looking back at the Pokemon, thinking. "How about... Hocus? No, that's stupid. Oh, what about.. Rune?"

He cocked his head, obviously confused at the origin of this name. _Rune? What does that mean?_

"I'm... not quite sure, but I think it has something to do with magic." I replied, blushing at my own stupidity. He nodded slowly. _I like it._

"Great!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands. "Shall we begin our journey into the unknown lands of Kanto?" I picked up my new pokemon and placed him on my head, attempting to look up at him and smiling from ear to ear as I began to run to run to the closest town.

"Let's go!"


	3. Chapter 2

Forget Me Not - Chapter two

I'll spare you the boring details about the beginning of our journey. Me and Rune were quite a team; we beat the first two gyms with ease. Us two dominated everyone standing in our way as we progressed through Kanto.

Of course, it wasn't always easy.

By the third gym, we were getting wiped out by every trainer we saw, and don't even get me started on the gym leader. Lt. Surge and his team of electric Pokemon were fainting poor Rune in just a few hits. It was then it dawned on me that I needed to catch more Pokemon if I wanted to make it to the top.

Where are we going, Keiko? inquired Rune, confused as to why I was lurking in the tall grass- he obviously didn't know this was where wild Pokemon could be seen.

"We're going to catch a Pokemon, Rune." I replied, laughing at his silly question. "We're gonna need some help if we want to beat Lt. Surge."

He nodded as we combed through the tall yellow grass, scouting the land for any Rattata or Diglet skittering by. Unfortunetly there was nothing but a couple of Pidgey flying about- but even I knew that a Pidgey wouldn't last a second against any electric type.

Just as I was ready to give up trying, something caught my eye- yellow, digging a small hole in the ground with its tiny white claws. "Look, Rune! Look! What do ya think that is?" I whispered quietly, pointing in the direction of the Pokemon.

He looked, and nodded. That's a Sandshrew, Keiko. They're pretty rare around here.

I grinned at the word rare. Not to mention this would be perfect to beat Lt. Surge with- electric types had nothing on ground types.

"Alright, Rune! Go get that thing!" I exclaimed, and he teleported off my head and in front of the scaly-yellow... thing. The sandshrew looked up at him, staring, and before I could call out a command Rune was tackled into a tree.

"Rune! Use Confusion!" I screamed angrily, glaring at the Sandshrew. Nobody hurts my Abra and gets away with it.

Purple psychic energy began to glow around his paws as he built up power. Almost... almost... He closed his eyes tightly as the energy came flying out of his hands, hitting the Sandshrew and sending it flying backwards. "Shrewwwwww!" it squealed, getting back up quickly.

It charged at Rune with its claws extended, combining a Tackle with Slash. Thinking quick, I shouted out a strategy that me and Rune had used dozens of times before- it was one I thought out while we were battling against Misty, the Cerulean gym leader.

"Rune, use Circle!"

Nodding, he began to materialize into thin air, and with a small pop, he was a few inches next to where he was a few seconds before. He picked up speed, and soon it was as if there were a circle of Abras surrounding the Sandshrew.

Confused, the Sandshrew aimed for one, tackling with all its might- and missed.

He ending up bashing his head on a tree, and getting his claws stuck inside it. "Abra, tackle him until he's weak enough to be captured!" I shouted, taking advantage that the Pokemon was stuck and defensless. Rune tackled his whole bodyweight into it, occasionally blasting him with Psychic until the Sandshrew was extremely low on HP. Grinning, I called Rune back and looked at the Sandshrew, who was panting and whimpering from his battle.

I smiled and grabbed a Pokeball from my belt, tossing it at the ground type nonchalantly. For a few seconds the Sandshrew seemed to struggle; but after half a minute, I heard a faint _click, _and my smile grew another few inches as fireworks went off in my head- I'd caught my first Pokemon!

-----

I stared at the ball in my hands for quite some time before I decided to let out my new Pokemon. A red beam of light slowly took the form of a Sandshrew, who was now sitting on the ground, looking quite dazed. I smiled at him as he returned my kind gesture with a piercing glare. However justified it was, I still felt insulted as he turned his head away from me, growling.

"Hey, come on, little buddy! Let's try and be friends, okay?" I grinned as I put my hand out to the Pokemon, who turned to sniff it curiously, and then...

"OW!" I rubbed the bleeding slash on my hand where the Sandshrew had bit me. "What was that for?" I hissed, glaring at him while he snickered mischeviously. I sighed as I got out a bandage from my backpack. "Come on, it was nothing personal. I just wanted to catch you, is all. I want to be your friend." I smiled, looking at him with puppy eyes.

He seemed to reconsider our relationship for a moment, but quickly snorted and turned his head away. "Well, I can at least name you, then." I looked him over, for anything that might suit him for a name. "How about Kin?" I finally said, smiling. "Your scales are so golden... and that's what Kin means. Golden. You like it?"

The Sandshrew looked at me, still glaring. "Shrand." he replied rather crossly, but nodded in agreement. I grinned. "Perfect then! Keiko, Rune, and Kin - bound for destiny!" I exclaimed, as Kin and Rune looked up at me with looks on their faces that said, "What an idiot."

I took off running through the grass as my two Pokemon exchanged glances before chasing off after me, Rune teleporting onto my head as Kin picked up the same pace as me. I smiled down at him, and the Sandshrew looked back up at me angrily. Well, he was following me; it was a start.

The sky was clear and blue, without a cloud to be seen. _A perfect day for battling... and beating Lt. Surge! _I thought with confidence. With Kin, I could be unstoppable - if he would ever warm up to me. I sighed as I looked down at the golden, shrew-like Pokemon. I was feeling bitter considering he didn't seem to like me. Sure, I had fought against him, but trainers do that all the time, and their Pokemon always warm up to them, right? Right?

I tossed aside the depressing thoughts and continued to run to who-knows-where, with Kin and Rune at my side - er, Rune was actually sitting on my head, but whatever. We eventually stopped as I rested against an oak tree, panting from all the running I'd been doing. I could see the tall, metallic white gym up ahead - so close to the gym. I just needed some rest.

"Hey, you! You've got Pokemon, let's battle!"

I spun around to see a young male with black, messy hair, a red and white jacket on, and a smirk on his face. He looked about my age, and three Pokeballs filled up his belt. Not about to turn down a match and get called a wimp, I nodded and Rune quickly teleported off my head and onto the ground, ready for battle.

"Alright, but don't expect any mercy from me!" I shouted, grinning slyly.

"And don't expect any from me! Go, Poochyena!" He pressed the button on his Pokeball and revealed a small, black, fierce-looking dog-like Pokemon. His yellow eyes glared at Rune as he kicked up the dust behind him. The boy smirked. "Think your Psychic Pokemon can take on my Dark type?"

I glared back at him. "You bet so!" I wasn't going to take being teased from this chump. I would show him - Rune would beat that Poochyena with ease.

"Fine, then. Poochyena, Crunch!" The Poochyena immediatly took off with amazing speed, and crunched his massive teeth into the arm my precious Abra. Rune screamed in pain as the dark-type's grip worsened. Without me having to say anything, Rune blasted the Poochyena off with Psychic. I gasped in horror as I saw that it didn't affect the Poochyena at all - he continued to glare at Rune unaffected.

"Wha- bu- but how!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms into the air. "How on earth did he do that!"

"Surprsied?" scoffed the boy, grinning. "Psychic moves are uneffective on dark Pokemon. Read a book or two and you'd learn that." He chuckled, but not before letting his Poochyena get another bite out of Rune.

Fuming with rage, I clenched my fists watching the Poochyena ripped Rune apart. I finally got an idea after picking through my thoughts. "Rune, Focus Punch!"

Nodding his head weakly, the Abra calmed his mind, clenched his fist, stood up, and...

_BAM!_

He knocked Poochyena across the field, and the dog-like Pokemon only stopped when he landed back-first into a tree. I grinned, looking at my opponent's nearly-lifeless Pokemon. "Had enough yet?" I said proudly, crossing my arms. The boy just glared at me as he returned Poochyena to his Pokeball and let out another Pokemon - a small, grey, puppet-like creature, with piercing blue eyes.

"Shuppet."

The Shuppet glanced around, eventually fixing his glaze on Rune and glaring. "Shuppet! Shuppet!" it screamed, immediatly racing towards my nearly-fainted Abra. "Ack! Rune, Teleport!" I screamed, and he didn't hesitate. He teleported onto my head as the boy laughed. "What? Is your Abra to weak for my Shuppet? Guess you'll have to use your Sandshrew, but he doesn't look very willing." he chuckled as he pointed to Kin, who had began to kick sand in my direction.

I bent over to Kin and sighed. "Look, Kin, I won't force you to battle, but I'd really appreciate it. I just want us to be friends, okay?" I forced a smile as I patted his head. He looked at me. Then at Shuppet. Me. Shuppet. Me. Shuppet. Me. Shuppet. Eventually, he nodded his head, but didn't change his glare. "Shrew."

I smiled, and he quickly dug a hole in the ground with his extended claws and disapeared underground. Shuppet, confused, began tackling the ground without mercy, looking for Kin - and he found him, only when Kin leaped out of the ground and wrestled the Shuppet down, slashing at him with his ivory claws.

"Shup! Pet! Shuppet! Shuuuu!" squealed the ghost Pokemon angrily. "Shuppet!" With that last word, he began to glow an eerie yellow colour, and rain clouds formed above us. A bolt of thunder came crashing down on the two, blinding me temporarily. I gasped after the smoke cleared.

Kin was unharmed.

I laguhed. "Electricity against a ground Pokemon?" the boy shot daggers at me, but ordered his Shuppet quickly after. "Shuppet, use Will-o-wisp!"

Fire formed around the Shuppet and it quickly launched at Kin, whom landed on the ground, rolling around in pain. "Shrewwwww! Shrewwwwwww!" I glared at the boy again - both Pokemon were down to their last hit points. One final blow could take out either of them - now it was only a matter of speed. "Kin, combine Dig with Quick Attack!" I screamed, and Kin quickly scratched up a hole and appeared under the Shuppet.

Those last final seconds seemed like it was my battle, until...

"Shuppet, Will-o-wisp!"

Fire erupted from the ghost Pokemon like I've never seen before. Black smoke engulfed the two struggling Pokemon as I heard assorted cries of "Shrew!" and "Shup!" When the smoke cleared, only my Sandshrew was left standing, munching quietly on an Oran Berry, with a fainted Shuppet lying at his feet.

"Woohoo! Alright, Kin!" I scrambled over to him and lifted him into the air, hugging him and cheering him on. "I'm so proud, Kin! You won your first official battle!" I looked into his eyes and for once, he looked back, giving me a delighted, "Shrand!" before I set him down and walked towards my opponent.

"Good game, uhh..."

"You can call me Katsu. You know what that means, kid? It means _victory. _Which naturally describes me perfectly." He smirked, crossing his arms proudly as I rolled my eyes.

"You sure that defines you? I could have sworn that I just kicked your..."

"That was just dumb luck that your Sandshrew found an Oran Berry. He would have never made it otherwise." He snapped back as he recalled his Shuppet back to his Pokeball. I chuckled dryly as I began to walk off, but I looked back when I heard his voice again. "Hey, where are ya headed, anyway?" he called, eventually walking at the same pace with me.

"I'm headed for the Vermillion City gym. Today I plan to beat Lt. Surge with Kin." I replied, grinning at Katsu. He returned my smile with his own, genuine one.

"Well, I'd think it strange that I know your Pokemon's name and not yours. So what would it be, anyway?"

"My name is Keiko. Pleased to meet you." I smiled, grabbing his hand and shaking it.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, then, Keiko, I'll just have to beat Lt. Surge before you, won't I?"

I grinned slyly back at him. "I'll consider that a challenge! Katsu, I declare you my official rival!"

"I accept! I'll see you again soon, Keiko!" he smirked, as he took off ahead of me to the Vermillion City gym.

I sighed and let him get ahead as I looked up at Rune. "Looks like we've got another one to add to the group, Rune." I chased off after Ketsu, my sworn rival for life, laughing as we raced towards the gym together...

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 3

"Lt. Surge, prepare for the beating of your lifetime!"

Katsu and Lt. Surge were standing at opposite sides of the arena, each gripping a Pokeball in their hands. Lt. Surge was a tall man, and he had yellow spiked hair and was also quite muscular. Katsu was a toddler compared to the huge brute that stood before him.

"Don't expect me to go easy on ya, kid! Raichu here can beat _anyone._" He patted his Raichu on the head as he snickered, while I watched on from the stands. "I doubt a little child like you could ever defeat a strong gym leader such as _I._"

Katsu glared, releasing his Poochyena whose fur immediatly bristled up at the sight of Raichu. He let out a low growl, his fierce yellow eyes seemingly intimidating the electric rat standing a few feet away. My rival chuckled and stroked his Pokemon behind the ears lightly. "Enough chit-chat, Surge! Let's battle!"

Not waiting for his response, Katsu ordered his Poochyena to do an attack. "Poochyena, Double Team!"

Dozens of copies of Poochyena surrounded the Raichu who looked on in confusion. Each one of them looked so real - but which one really wa - _CRUNCH._ "CHUUUUU!" The electric mouse felt a searing pain in his neck where the Poochyena had bitten into him. Katsu was now holding his sides as he busted out in laughter while Surge clenched his fists in rage. "Raichu! Thunderbolt!"

And in a flash, the whole room was filled with an eye-burning bright light and a deafening _CRACK!_ When I opened my eyes, Poochyena was lying on the ground, completely blown away by one hit. Lt. Surge pumped his fist into the air. "Yeah! One-hit-KO! Had enough, little boy?" he smirked as Katsu returned Poochyena angrily.

"Not quite, Surge. I _will _defeat you. Go, Shuppet!" Out popped that familiar Shuppet again, floating in the air, looking at Raichu. Not glaring. Just... looking.

"Shuppet?" he said quietly, cocking his head at the Pokemon before him. "Shuuuu?" He floated over to Raichu, seeming to inspect him. "Shup, shup... Uppet."

Katsu crossed his arms impatiently. "What are you waiting for, Shuppet? Attack that thing!" Shuppet turned back to his trainer... and glared. Eyes glowing with rage, he screamed an angry "SHUUUUUUPPET!" before lifting Katsu into the air using telekenises and dropping him to the floor.

"Augh! Shuppet, what has gotten into you! It's me, Katsu! Your trainer!" he cried, rubbing his shoulder where he had landed. The Shuppet ignored him and spun around, facing Raichu again, seemingly talking to him.

"Shup, shuppet, upup!"

"Raaaaaiii..."

"Shuppet! Shup, uppet."

"Chu! Rai rai rai!"

"Shuppet."

"Chuuuu... Kyahh?"

"Shup... Shuppet shup!"

After Shuppet's last words, he was shocked by a lightenening bolt so strong it could have killed him - he was, however, fainted immediatly and looked to be badly injured with burns. Katsu gasped and ran over to his Pokemon, shaking it. "Shuppet! Shuppet, are you okay? Say something, Shuppet!" He pleaded and pleaded, but Shuppet would not wake. No matter how man revives he gave him, he wouldn't wake up.

"R- Rune? What happened to Shuppet?" I asked nervously, looking down at Rune who was seated in the bleachers beside me. "Is he dead? And what were they talking about?"

Rune looked stunned as he continued to watch Shuppet refuse to wake, but snapped out of it when I talked to him. _Shuppet will be fine... he's just badly injured, but it's nothing a trip to the Pokemon Center won't do..._

"Well, that's fine and dandy," I replied crossly, "But why would Raichu shock him so bad?"

Rune himself sounded disbelieving when he answered me. _He... he asked if Raichu would join Team Rocket._

-----

"Shuppet? A Rocket recruit? Yeah, right!"

Tatsu defiantly wasn't taking this very well. He was glaring and me and Rune as he cradled Shuppet gently in his arms. "Shuppet would never do something so evil and greedy like that. He's a goodhearted Pokemon! All Shuppets are!"

I stared at him sadly as I flipped out my Pokedex and recorded the information for Shuppet. "He may not be what you think, Tatsu. Read this." I shoved the Pokedex into his hand as he read it out loud, his eyes widening and his voice sounding angrier by the second.

"This Pokémon roams about deep in the night seeking such negative emotions as grudges and envy. It retreats to its nest when the sun begins to rise." Katsu read slowly. He shoved the Pokedex back into my hands, crossing his arms. "No, it isn't true. My Shuppet is different. Why would he be a Rocket's Pokemon?"

"Because he's smart, that's why!"

We both turned around to see a tall man dressed in all black, and a distinctive red "R" on his shirt. His hair was blonde, blue eyes, and four Pokeballs were hung on his belt. "Smart Pokemon know to join Team Rocket. The stupid ones are left to be ordered around by whiny little brats like you!"

I clenched my fists in anger. "I think you've got the words 'smart' and 'dumb' mixed around, you evil Rocket! Go, Sandshrew!" I let Sandshrew out from his Pokeball, but suddenly realized it wasn't such a great idea when he looked at the Rocket, then at me, and crossed his arms and turned up his nose.

The Rocket laughed. "You expect to beat my Arbok," he released a tall, purple cobra-like Pokemon, who was towering above him now, rippling with strength. "With that puny thing? Especially when it won't even listen to you!" He chuckled, watching as the Sandshrew was now tugging at my backpack, apparently trying to rip it to shreds. The Rocket grunt laughed again.

"Your wimpy little Sandshrew could never beat my... AUGH!" I heard a scream and my mind flicked to attention as Katsu and I bust out with laughter at seeing Kin attack the Grunt's face without mercy, slashing at it with his little claws. "Shrewwww! Sand!" Apparently he didn't appreciate being called wimpy.

"Get this runt off of me, you little brats! AUGH! Arbok! Iron Tail him!" he shouted, and his Arbok immediatly responded - but not quick enough, as Kin jumped off his face just in time... leaving the Rocket exposed to the Arbok's rock-hard tail.

"OH MY GOD!" he clutched his face in pain as chased after his Arbok angrily, but not before pointing an accusing finger at us and saying, "I'll be back for you twerps! Just you wait!"

The moment he was just a speck in the distance, my rival and I were rolling around in the grass laughing uncontrollably. "WE didn't have to do a thing! That guy beat _himself!_" cried Katsu as he wiped away tears.

Neither of them had noticed that Shuppet had disapeared.


	5. Chapter 4

"Well, let's rest up our Pokemon and stay in the Pokemon Center for the night. We can try to beat Lt. Surge again tomorrow." said Katsu as we entered the pink-themed center. One of the many, many, many Nurse Joys walked out to greet us, smiling as she took our Pokeballs.

"Hello, I'll be happy to heal your Pokemon for you. Just take a seat over there and it should only take about five minutes." We nodded as she walked behind the counter and into another room, humming a tune quietly. The matching-pink Chansey waddled out as she held out a tray with rice balls on it, each of us happily taking one. She skipped away while trilling "Chansey!" to everyone in the room.

"You can wait if you want. I'm challenging Lt. Surge today," I replied confidently. "My Pokemon are all healed up and ready for battle, so why wait?" Rune smiled at me with his "battle face" on, while Kin was happily munching away on my shoelaces. "I think I'll win easily anyway. Rune has the confidence, and Kin has the, um... agressiveness." I added as I looked down at my Sandshrew, who was now moving onto my backpack to rip to shreds once more. I sweatdropped while Katsu chuckled nervously.

"Good luck to you, then. You'll need it. Raichu is pretty strong." He replied, shrugging. "He took care of Poochyena and Shuppet without breaking a sweat." He cringed while he remembered Shuppet being shocked into a coma. "Poor Shuppet," he muttered as he tried to peek in the healing room.

I shrugged it off and brightened up when Nurse Joy returned with our Pokeballs, but she turned to Katsu worriedly as she handed him the last one. "Sir, this Pokeball was empty when you gave it to us."

Katsu looked shocked as he opened it as it revealed... Nothing. "But... But Shuppet! He was in there! I know he was! Why would he suddenly leave? And more importantly, _how?_" He rubbed his temples as he paced around the room, then turned to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Keiko, we have to go find Shuppet. _Now._"

I blinked, but quickly nodded. He was going crazy over his Shuppet... Why, I don't know. Maybe because he was worried Team Rocket stole it - or in denial that Shuppet might have gone with them without being stolen.

"Katsu, calm down! I'm sure Shuppet is around here somewhere... With Team Rocket..."

"What did you say?" He glared at me as I sweatdropped nervously.

"N-nothing. Hey! Let's go find Shuppet, I'm sure he's close by!" He seemed pleased with my answer, and we both walked out the Pokemon Center on the lookout for Shuppet.

-----

"Shuuuuuppeeeeet!"

"Oh, Shuppet! Where arrrrrre yoooou?"

"Shrand! Shewwww!"

_Shuppet, come out, come out wherever you are..._

"Yena! Poochy!"

The chorus of the five voices must've sounded rather odd, but we still searched and called his name, with no luck. As the sun began to set over the horizon, and the pale moon began to rise into the sky, I sighed and shook my head in defeat. "Katsu, as much as I hate to tell you this, I think Shuppet is gone for good or working with Team Rocket. What other explanations are there? Emily has been dropping clues through the whole fanfic." All of a sudden I get hit in the head with a large mallet by a shiny Rattata morph, who soon scurries away giggling. "Ow..."

"I don't care what you say, Keiko!" Katsu answered angrily, oblivious to the fact that I was just hit in the head with a hammer, "He does not work for Team Rocket! And we _are _going to find him!"

I sighed again, picking up Kin in my arms and placing Rune back on my head. "Well, could we at least go to sleep, then? We can continue our search in the morning. I'm exhausted."

He crossed his arms grumpily, but nodded as he recalled Poochyena to his Pokeball. "Alright, fine. Get out your sleeping bag." he replied, setting up his own and climbing in.

"Sleeping bag! Are you kidding? I thought we were going to sleep in the Center!" I protested, my hands on my hips. "There is no way I'm sleeping out here and waking up with a Caterpie or an Ekans on my face!"

He rolled over on his side and shut his eyes. "I want to be able to hear Shuppet if he comes back. You don't have to stay out here, but I am. Goodnight, Keiko." I sighed, giving up, and rolled out my sleeping bag and climbed in reluctantly. Who knew he could be so stubborn...

-----

"Shuppet?"

I opened my eyes groggily as I yawned, and through the blurryness I could barely make out the Shuppet floating in front of me. "Oh, Shuppet... you've come back! I can't wait to tell Katsu... he'll be so happy..." I muttered, still half-asleep. I smiled weakly as I pulled my blanket tighter around me, ready to nod off to sleep again.

"Shuppet."

"I know you're here, Shuppet... Go to... sleep." I yawned, shuddering from the cold wind. "We can talk in the morning, okay? Good... night."

"Shuppet..."

The last thing I heard was a haunting, creepy-sounding melody being sung into the night air. I groaned weakly as I began to feel dizzy, listening to the hypnotic song over and over with nothing I could do. My body was getting weaker by the second as the song grew louder, drowning out everything else as my vision went completely black. It slowly faded out as I groaned, clutching my head and whimpering.

And that's when I fainted.

-----

"Welcome to my shop, little girl." An old woman bowed to me, a vacant expression on her face, and glasses covered her emotionless eyes. "I trust you will find anything and everything you need here."

I smiled to her confusedly. "Thank you, but I'm not sure how I got here... Do you think you could give me directions to Vermillion City?" She nodded and went to her desk, shuffling around with papers. I looked around the shop nervously; it was old and mostly broken-down, and some flowers were for sale here and there. There were a few pieces of pottery on the shelves, cracking away and colours fading. I felt a light tapping on my shoulder and I turned around, to come face-to-face with the pale faced woman.

"Just go north a bit, deary, and take a left at the sign. You'll get there quickly." she nodded, and I smiled. Just before I could add in a "Thank you!", she rushed over to a back room and came out - with seven violet flowers. "Take these with you. Forget-me-nots bring good luck in love life." A faint smile appeared on her face as I blushed, said thank you, and rushed out the door, stuffing the flowers in my backpack as I went the directions she gave me.

"Gosh, that lady was creepy... I'll bet she's one of those wackos who tries to put curses on people... and lives with w bunch of Haunters and Gengars..." I snickered to myself as I continued my brisk walk back to Vermillion. A fine night for a walk, it was - a cool breeze gently blew throughout the land, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. _Maybe I should sleep outside more often... _I thought to myself, smiling, when I suddenly heard a frightened squeal - "Caterpie!"

I looked down and saw a Caterpie struggling to get it's... uh, "tail" out from under my foot. I lifted my shoe up and patted his head. "Sorry, little buddy, didn't see you there. You want a berry, maybe?" I cooed, and it skittered away, and I shrugged and walked on.

"Freeee."

An angry voice chirped at me, and looking up I saw a very cross Butterfree floating in front of me. "Uh... sorry about your kid, Mrs. Butterfree...? I didn't mean to - ACK!" I began to cough as I felt a powder substance fall over me. Pain shot through my body as I tried to move my arm, and I began to feel drowsy. It was like a cross between Posionpowder and sleepingpowder. I soon began to nod off to sleep... again... I moaned. This was happening way to often.

-----

"Wake up sleepy head! Are you okay?"

"Shrew!"

_Wake up, Keiko! Are you alright? Are you hurt?_

I groaned as my eyes flickered open, and as my focus was back into place I could see Katsu, Shuppet, Kin, Rune, and Poochyena looking down at me, worried - well, except for Shuppet. He never showed much emotion. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and discovered that the pain was gone! It must have been a dream... Just a dream.

"I'm fine. Why are you so worried?" I replied, my eyes half-closed.

Katsu's expression brightened, as Rune and Kin tackled me in delight. I laughed and stroked both of their heads while Katsu began to explain what happened.

"Well, I woke up, and Shuppet was back, but you were out cold. I shook you, screamed in your face, and Poochyena even bit you a few times. I put a stop to that, though." We both sweatdropped as he continued. "I even splashed water on you." I glared at him as I discovered my clothes were soaked for the first time. He grinned nervously. "Hey, I was just worried. Don't be so upset about it."

"Well, thanks. I just had this weird dream, that's all. It's nothing worth telling." I shrugged, smiling back at him. He returned my smile with one of his own and he clapped his hands with delight. "Hey, I've got an idea! Let's go try and beat Lt. Surge again! Sound good, Poochyena, Shuppet?" He asked, grinning broadly.

"Yooch!"

"Shuppet!"

"All right! Come on, Keiko! Last one there's a Magikarp!" he called playfully.

Not about to be called such a pathetic excuse for a Pokemon, I laughed and grabbed my backpack and readied myself to take off after him, when I looked down and saw something by my sleeping bag.

Neatly arranged in a bouquet were seven violet Forget-me-nots.


	6. Chapter 5

"So you really don't know how they got there?" asked Katsu as I twirled the flowers around in my hands. Poochyena barked gruffly while padding loyally at his master's feet, staring at the flowers with suspicion.

"No... I have no idea. I did have this dream, though..." I answered quietly. Only four flowers were already bloomed, bursting with life and vibrant purple petals. The other three's flowers were packed neatly into a tiny green bud, waiting for their right time to sprout while soaking in sunshine and water while they waited. The flowers were truly beautiful, but it didn't distract me from my confusion. "I appeared in this old lady's store and she gave me these flowers."

"Maybe she has a thing for you," Katsu snickered playfully while he raised his eyebrows. I'll spare you the details - all you need to know that soon enough he had a couple rather large bumps on his head and a red hand mark on his face. "Don't be so uppity about it, I was kidding." He rubbed his cheek, wincing. "So was there anything weird about that old lady? Except the fact that she has a fetish for 13 year old girls?"

Soon enough he was on the ground again, writhing with pain in a fetal position, the aftermath of being kicked in "a place where the sun don't shine". I snickered as he got up angrily, face red with anger and embarassment. "Anyway, she seemed like one of those weird people who put curses on guests. And I would bet that she lives with a bunch of Haunters or something."

He nodded. "Well, those flowers could be a curse, you know. Or a sign."

I rolled my eyes. "A sign of what, exactly?"

He grinned and put on his most evil face, "_Aliens!_"

I sweatdropped as he let the ten year old inside of him take over. "Yep, more proof of aliens. There's cropcircles, and... abductions! And the flowers!" He exclaimed, puffing out his chest importantly. I slapped him and scolded him for being so stupid.

"Please, we live in a wolrd with strange animals with special powers. What is the difference between the two?"

He shrugged, looking defeated. "I dunno. But it's possible."

"There's already alien Pokemon," I replied. "Deoxys? Jirachi? You never heard of them?"

Katsu sighed and shook his head. "Nope. I never really got the chance to study space like I wanted to. The school's decided it wasn't needed and only built up the budget, so they got rid of it." His face saddened. "I try to learn about it in libraries, though. It's pretty interesting."

I nodded, smiling and pulling out my Pokenav and looking at the map. "Let's see... The gym isn't far from here. We should get there in 10 minutes or so." I closed up my Pokedex and grinned, looking down at Kin who was latched onto my shoelace. I had tried to pull him off, but he insisted on being dragged along by my shoelace. I'd have to get new shoes soon...

-----

"You may have beaten my rival, Lt. Surge, but I'll beat you like _that!" _I shouted proudly, snapping my finger at the word "that". Lt. Surge just laughed, and patted his Raichu on the head.

"I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon." He replied, grinning. His Raichu let out a confident "Rai!" and leapt into the battle arena, cheeks already sparking with his eagerness to battle. Lt. Surge chuckled as he looked at his Pokemon. "So, it looks like Raichu is ready. Are you?"

"More than I'll ever be!" I replied, and pointed a finger towards the arena, shouting, "Go! Kin!" Kin looked up at me, cocking his head to the side. "Time to battle, Kin," I said impatiently, scooting him onto the floor. He growled at me and reluctantly put on his battle face and dug a hole in the ground without my saying it.

"Dig, eh? No problem." The gym leader said as he saw my Sandshrew ready for attack. "Raichu, use Swift."

Raichu nodded, opened his mouth as power began to form inside of it, taking the shape of dozens of tiny stars. And then, quick as a bullet, they sped out of his mouth and down and through the hole that Kin had dug. Lt. Surge grinned with pleasure when he heard a devastating "_Shrewwwww!" _come from underground.

Kin was angry now, and, positioning himself just right, leapt out of the ground directly under Raichu who flew back first into the wall. Katsu snickered and pointed out, "I see someone's not fixed."

Lt. Surge was fuming at my attack and Katsu's comment on his Raichu. "Raichu! Quick Attack!" Raichu immediatly responded and dashed towards Kin, changing places every other step. He circled Kin, dizzying both of the Pokemon, but out of nowhere he launched himself into the ground-type with all his might, forcing his body weight onto the small Pokemon.

"No sexual contact!" screamed Katsu jokingly, causing me and Rune to crack up, and Kin to shove the Raichu off of him. Lt. Surge was absolitely steaming with rage now, his glare directed towards Katsu. "You shut up or I'll haul your smart little mouth out of here, ya got it, kid!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Katsu sunk in his seat, blushing, and nodded meekly. "Yessir. Won't happen again."

"Kin, while he isn't looking! Use Rock Tomb!" I shouted, causing Raichu and Surge to turn in surprise.

Kin nodded, and shut his eyes, and waved his arms around for a few seconds. Out of nowhere, chunks of the ground were risen from the floor, all of them toppling around Raichu, creating a tomb-like structure. Kin continued to pile more and more rocks on the electric Pokemon who was now shouting helplessly as he tried to Thundershock his way out - failing, of course.

The Sandshrew opened his eyes and looked pleased with his work. He closed his eyes again, waved around his arms and the tomb suddenly collapsed onto Raichu without mercy, some of the rocks big enough to crush a few bones. Raichu was wailing out in pain as he lifted a shaky brown paw in defeat, and fainted on the ground looking dazed.

"Alright, Kin! Ya did it!" I squealed as I scooped him up in my arms, hugging him tight. I set him down as Rune teleported off my head, and the two shook hands - er, paws - as a way of saying congrats. I grinned at the two, happy that they were getting along.

"Keiko! Keiko! You did it! Alright!"

I spun around to see Katsu rushing towards me, Poochyena sprinting ahead of him happily. His Pokemon jumped into my arms and licked my face playfully. Katsu chuckled and pulled Poochyena off me, and shook my hand. "Well, you beat Lt. Surge before me. Congratulations, Keiko." He smiled, and I smiled back. "But don't think I won't beat him _or _you someday!" he added fiercefully, suddenly remembering that we swore to be rivals.

I shook my head, smiling, when Lt. Surge turned to us. "Hey! You're that punk who kept insulting my Raichu!" He shouted angrily, balling his hand into a fist.

Katsu sweatdropped. "Uh, I better get going!" He spun around and took off out of the gym, Lt. Surge following close behind with his now-restored Raichu zapping Katsu with all his might.

-----

I'll spare you the boring details of Katsu's victory for now. In a nutshell, Poochyena and Shuppet had leveled up quite a bit since Katsu's last match with Surge - just enough so they could barely beat the little electric rat, though it was hard for Katsu to order the commands seeing as he had been burnt to a crisp. Surge was obviously quite angry about my rival's remarks and fought with his best, but couldn't quite make it. Naturally, Katsu had to do a stupid little victory dance, embarassing me and Lt. Surge alike.

"You think we'll be able to catch some more Pokemon around here? All I'm seeing is Caterpie, Caterpie, and more Caterpie." Katsu asked as we both admired our new badges.

"Of course we will. I heard that Bulbasaur can be found here. And even Treecko have been spotted!" I replied, grinning.

"Treecko? But they don't live in Kanto." He replied, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

_It's true, Katsu. Professer once told me that one day, a man brought his two Treecko to Kanto and left them here to breed, so they could spread all over. They're very rare, but it'd be interesting to see one. _Rune added, nodding his head. I had no idea he knew so much. I guess the Professer must have talked to his Pokemon a lot.

Katsu nodded, amazed. "Wow! If I see one, I'm defiantly catching it!" He grasped a Great Ball in his hands, prepared for any rare Pokemon that he would need it for.

"Well, I'm on the lookout for Bulbasaur or maybe even a Scyther. They're supposed to be pretty powerful." I replied, grinning at the thought of beating Katsu's wimpy Pokemon with a mighty Scyther._ Heh heh heh... He'd be so embarassed! _I thought to myself, chuckling as Katsu sped off to find a Treecko. Wrapped up in my dream world, I tripped over a rock. At least, I thought it was a rock.

"Ow! Hey, Rune, you okay?" I asked my Abra, who had fallen off my head in my process of tripping. He nodded, and climbed back on, this time gripping my hair for dear life. I rolled my eyes and laughed, but stopped short when I saw what I had tripped on.

It was a yellow egg, with pink flower petals decorating the bottom of it. Two red, bud-like circles were circling the top. I blinked, confused - there was no Pokemon with this design, was there? I pulled out my Pokedex in hopes for an answer.

_This is a Pokemon Egg. When in a trainer's possesion long enough, it hatches to reveal a baby Pokemon. The species inside this egg is unknown._

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that was helpful." I picked up the egg and looked it over. It occasionally wiggled a couple of times, but otherwise seemed like it wouldn't hatch very soon. "Well, shall we keep it, Rune? It doesn't look like there's any Mother for it out here..."

Rune nodded. _Let's keep it. I don't see why not, as long as we don't find it's Mother._

I grinned, and cradled the tiny egg in my arms as Kin looked at it nervously. I looked down at him and waggled a finger playfully. "You better get along with this egg, Kin. It's not a shoe and you _can't _eat it, believe it or not." He looked disapointed and waddled off somewhere, as me and Rune shared a laugh.

"Keiko! Keiko! Look what I found!" Shouted Katsu through the thicket, rushing out to find me. "Come over here, quick!" I nodded and ran over, the egg in my arms, Rune on my head and Kin by my side. Peeking through the tall grass I gasped...

"It's a whole herd of Treecko!"

It was true. Dozens of Treecko, Grovyle and the occasional Sceptile were basking themselves on rocks, baby Treecko were playing and practicing battling with each other, and some just calmly nibbling on some grass. There were even some green-and-red eggs laying around, which the Sceptile were guarding protectively. It was a Treecko-lover's paradise! Katsu was nearly drooling in anticipation.

"I'm gonna try and catch a Treecko!" He exclaimed as quiet as possible, still holding the Great Ball. He eyed a rather small Treecko that had wandered away from the group, and he grinned and quietly followed it. "You stay here, Keiko. I'm gonna go catch that Treecko!" He whispered to me, and stalked off after it.

I chuckled and prepared myself to see Katsu get mauled by a puny Treecko. "I wish I had my video camera," I thought out loud. I heard a slight rustle, and then a _thump_, and I looked down to see the seven Forget-me-nots had fallen out of my backpack. Just as I went down to put them back, I noticed something...

One of the buds had blossomed.


	7. Chapter 6

"Ow... Ow... OW! Be careful! That hurts!"

I rolled my eyes and pulled another thorn out of Katsu's arms while he winced with pain. He had caught he Treecko, but it had also resulted in him getting shoved into a thorn bush. "Just stay still, Katsu, and you'll be fine." I replied, plucking out another, very large thorn. The Treecko snickered while he watched Katsu in pain, while Kin came over to inspect the grass-type.

They seemed to whisper to each other for a few minutes. I smiled and looked at them, and they waved at me innocently and continued talking. _At least they're getting along, _I thought to myself, when I was suddenly blinded by something covering my face. I screamed, and panicked, resulting in me accdientally pushing a thorn deeper into Katsu's arm, which resulted in him screaming, "OW! You're supposed to take _out _the thorns, not putting them in!"

When I got the thing (which turned out to be my backpack) off my face, I glared at Kin and Treecko who were rolling around on the ground laughing their heads off. I sighed. "Looks like we've got another Kin..." They gave each other a high five as everyone just stared at them. "Alright, Kin, you've caused enough trouble for today. How about you take a rest, okay?" I said to my Sandshrew as I recalled him into his Pokeball. Looking in through the translucent red top I could see Kin yawning sleepily and curling up for a nap. I chuckled... How adorable!

"You can get on my shoulders, Treecko. Just don't pull anything funny." Katsu said strictly as he lifted his new Pokemon onto his shoulder. "Tree!" He trilled happily, and made himself comfy on Katsu's shoulder. My rival grinned and then pointed at the egg I was holding curiously. "Keiko, you never really told me what is with that egg. Where'd you find it?"

I looked down at the egg that I forgot about until now. It wiggled occasionally, and rarely it even made tiny squeaking noises. I petted it proudly. "I found it out in the tall grass over there. I have no idea what Pokemon it could be - not even my Pokedex could identify it. I'll assume it's some sort of plant or flower Pokemon, though, judging by the petals on it..."

Katsu nodded, deep in thought. "It could be just a painted egg. You know, lots of people who celebrate Easter take Pokemon eggs, drain out the yolk, and and paint them and keep them for a long time. It might just be a hollow egg."

I shook my head, lifting the egg. "No, this defiantly has _some_thing in it. It can't be hollow." I put the egg safely in my backpack and turned towards the road. "Well, we better get going to the next town, we have a long journey there. According to the map, we have to go through Rock Tunnel." I grimaced. I hated going through caves. I hadn't exactly had some great times at Mt. Moon.

"Alright!" Katsu exclaimed, "To Rock Tunnel we go!"

-----

I looked at the dark entrance of Rock Tunnel and shivered as a cool air brushed past me. "Ugh, are you sure there's no other way around?" I asked Katsu, who looked at me and shrugged.

"You're the one with the map. And unless you have a Pokemon with fly, no, there isn't any other way around." He replied, and sent out Treecko and ordered him to use Flash. The grass Pokemon nodded and began to absorb the light from the sun that was beginning to set, and after a few minutes the cave flashed with light.

We entered the murky cave with Treecko leading the way through. A few trainers lurked by, but we managed to avoid them as we quietly moved through the cave. There were no interesting Pokemon here, aside from the annoyingly common Geodude and Zubat that constantly came to battle us - man, I thought those things would _never _stop coming.

"Alright, so the rare ones are Onix, Mankey, and Machop? As long as we don't find any more Zubats." I said, shuddering. I was really tired of those little pests. "I just wanna get the heck out of here, and _fast._" I hugged the egg to my chest and shivered from the cool damp air. "It's so... weird and spooky in here."

Katsu shrugged my complaints off and pointed to a large rock. "Look behind that. I think I see an Onix!" He exclaimed, and sure enough, he was right. The giant silver rock snake was curled up, napping and snoring loudly. Katsu grinned. "I'm gonna catch it! Treecko, go!"

Treecko immediatly jumped at the Onix, shooting leaves and vines at it. Of course, this angered the Onix and he reared up, growling softly, and suddenly lunging himself at Treecko who squealed in fear. Right before Treecko was about to be squished, a net wrapped over Onix, sending him into a wall and chipping off parts of the rocks that made up his body.

"Got one, sir. Permission to report back to home base?" We heard the low voice of a man speaking into a microphone. And then a crackle, and a fuzzy "Permission granted. Bring all captured and stolen Pokemon back to base."

Katsu and I exchanged glances, and we both called our Pokemon into battle, not about to let anyone get away with stealing someone's Pokemon.

"Go, Rune!"

"Go, Treecko!"

Both Pokemon jumped into battle, snarling at the Rocket grunt. The Rocket smirked. "So, you're gonna try and save the day again, are you?" Then his eyes widened as he recognized us, and he clenched his fists. "Hey! You're those bratty kids that I battled earlier! You jerks, you'll get it now! Go, Mightyena!"

A larger version of Poochyena escaped it's Pokeball and let out a mournful howl, black mane and tail swishing about proudly. Without needing to be told what to do, he leaped at Rune and sunk his teeth into him as Rune screamed in pain. Poochyena, obviously quite mad at the Mightyena for hurting his friend, lunged at his opponant and bit down on his tail, not letting go.

"Rune, while Mightyena isn't looking! Use Focus Punch!" I screamed, and Rune nodded and focused his mind, storing his energy in a clenched fist. When he had stored just enough power...

_WHAM! _His fist met Mightyena's jaw bone with a sickening _crunch_ sound, resulting with the dark-type yelping and biting back at Rune, who quickly teleported away. Poochyena released his grip, and lunged at his opponant with a Body Slam, forcing all his weight onto the creature.

Eventually, Mightyena had an injured jaw, bruises, and a pool of blood around his tail - and fainted. The Rocket cursed and recalled his Pokemon.

"You may have won... again... But Team Rocket will be back! And don't you doubt it!" He quickly made off with the stolen Pokemon, with us screaming after him angrily. We didn't manage to catch up, but luckily he had led us out of the cave and into night time in Lavender Town.

-----

"It's awful depressing here, isn't it?"

We walked through Lavender Town to see yellow grass, grey skies and a giant funeral tower for Pokemon. Nothing about it was happy here. I held my egg close to me and felt it wiggle, and I looked down at it and smiled. I was hoping it would hatch soon.

"Yeah, it is pretty sad." replied Katsu, his eyes focused on the Pokemon Tower. "What an odd place... should... should we go in there?" He was twiddling his thumbs nervously as he looked at it, biting his lip. "We could... pay our respects, you know? I've also heard there's ghosts in there."

I laughed. "Ghosts? Ghosts don't exist. Except for Ghost-type Pokemon, of course." But something was troubling me... Katsu's face was a bit depressed-looking, and he seemed rather nervous. "We can go in if you want." I added quietly, and he nodded his head idly as we headed inside.

"My precious Growlithe... Why did you die?" sobbed a woman in front of a gravestone. Her eyes were red, and her face was shiny with the tears that poured down her face. "I miss you so much, Growlithe... Please come home..."

I frowned. I didn't like this place at all. I had no idea why Katsu would ever want to come in here.

"Katsu, why are we here in the first place? It's so... depressing. I don't like it here." I whimpered, looking around at people who were crying for their Pokemon.

"Because we're here to see my Eevee. She's come back as a ghost. I know it." A faint smile appeared on his face as I frowned. "Katsu, I don't think she did... I don't think she will." I replied sadly.

"She will... All I want is to see her again. She was my first Pokemon. Her grave is right over there..." He said emotionlessly as he pointed to a gravestone. We walked over and kneeled down, and I read the writing out loud:

"_Amaya_

_Pet, family member, and Mother_

_Our beautiful desert rose, now and forever"_

"We- we found her while traveling in the desert one day. We always called her our desert rose after that." He wiped away a few tears. "She had a litter of baby Eevees. An- and after she died, we released them into the desert. No, I did. I couldn't stand to look at them. They all looked just like her."

I put my hand on his shoulder and he looked and me and smiled softly. I smiled back and tried to comfort him. "It's the way of life, Katsu... everything dies. Whether it be a quick and painless death, or a gruesome, horrible one... we all die. But we still live in our loved ones hearts forever. That never changes." I wiped away tears of my own as he hugged me. "Thank you, Keiko."

A few hours later, Katsu seemed to be feeling better as we set up camp outside the Pokemon Center. I had gotten a liking to sleeping outside by now - it was nice, looking up at the stars every night and feeling the cool breeze on your skin. The stars were hard to see because of the clouds in the way, which now seemed black because of the darkness. I sighed, put the egg under the covers next to me, and drifted off to sleep.

-----

_Crack._

What was that...?

_Crik.. Plip... Crrrrrack._

What's that noise? It's so late... I'm not gonna go and check.

_Plop!_

"Cheri!"

Blinking and slapping myself awake, I rolled over to find my egg gone, replaced with dozens of tiny eggshells and a small flower-Pokemon waddling around, trying to walk. How cute... I rolled over again to go back to sleep. Wait... flower pokemon? Eggshells? Waddling? Sleep? Go? To!

"My egg hatched!" I screamed excitedly, but quickly covered my mouth. I scooped up the baby Pokemon and looked at her, cooing affectionetly. She was so cute. A yellow, round head and body, and two red buds above her equally beautiful red eyes. Five pink flower petals circled her head, and she seemed to wear a little pink 'coat' around the top half of her tiny body.

"Cherimu!" she squealed with delight as I scratched her behind her... buds?

"So you're a Cherimu? I've never heard of that Pokemon. Maybe when we get to Johto I'll find out where you came from." I smiled at her, and started to think of a name. Hmm... She sort of looked like the flower of a Sakura tree. I had one of those in my backyard. I grinned, and nodded. "Sakura... do you like that name?"

"Cheri!" she trilled happily, clapping her little pink hands with delight. "Cheri, cheri, cheri!"

I laughed and stroked her head. I would treat her like the daughter I never had. "I can tell, Sakura, you and me will be best of friends." She began to hum a happy tune in agreement, bobbing her head up and down. I chuckled. "Well, Sakura, I think we should go back to bed. We can tell the others in the morning!"

She nodded enthusiastically, and out of nowhere, she wrapped herself in a purple coccoon-like shell, probably to protect her during the night. I smiled and patted her head, and went back to sleep. What I didn't notice was the tall, dark figure standing behind me chuckling.

"An undiscovered Pokemon? ...The boss will like this..."


	8. Chapter 7

"Wake up, Keiko! Look what we found!"

I opened my eyes groggily and saw a hyperactive Katsu holding up Sakura who was chirping a little tune as she flapped her arms around in the air. I gasped and snatched her back.

"That's Sakura! She hatched from that egg I found." I stroked her head and smiled at her. "And she's just a big cutie, isn't she? Isn't she?" I hugged her tightly before turning back to Katsu. "Apparently she's something called a "Cherimu". Have you heard of that Pokemon?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Never. Maybe we're the first ones to know about it! We could get on the news!" He exclaimed, eyes brightening up. I sighed, and got up to stretch. It was early in the morning, but we'd have to get to the next town so we could challenge the next gym leader, since there wasn't one in Lavender Town. Pulling out a map, I concluded that if we got to Celadon City by the afternoon, we could have just enough time for us to each challenge Erika, the grass Pokemon master.

"I'll be able to beat her easy," Katsu said proudly. "With all of Shuppet's fire-type moves, there's no way I could possibly lose!" He popped Shuppet out of his Pokeball for a demonstration. "Shuppet, Flamethrower." He said nonchalantly, and Shuppet spit out flames that barely missed Treecko, who hid behind his trainer.

"Well, I don't know about me," I replied. "Rune can probably take 'em all out with a few Confusions, if he's lucky. I don't know about Kin, though..." I looked down at Kin, and this time he was digging through my backpack, probably ripping the inside apart. I sighed and shook my head. "Well, we'd better go soon. I want to get to Celadon by the afternoon so I can take a shot at challenging Erika." He nodded, recalled Shuppet, and packed his sleeping bag and other items into his bag.

-----

"Bulllllll-basaur!"

"Eeee!"

"Bababa! Saurrrr!"

"Veeeee! Eee!"

Our group of five spun around to see who on earth was making all that ruckus. Bursting through the calm breeze and lush green grass was a white, fox-like creature, with a cream-coloured mane wrapped around her neck. An shiny Eevee, I could see, and what was chasing her was a small, green dinosaur with a bulb on its back. Bulbasaur. A Bulbasaur holding wildflowers in its mouth, at that, with a lovesick look in his eyes.

The small Eevee spotted us, and immediatly ran up to me and looked at me worriedly as the Bulbasaur was coming closer. She whimpered, putting on a pouty face and pawed an empty Pokeball on my belt. Me and Katsu exchanged glances, and I blinked and turned back the Pokemon. "You... want to be caught?" I asked it, cocking my head to the side. She nodded anxiously as the Bulbasaur was coming even closer.

Shrugging, I took a Pokeball from my belt, pressed the button, and just as the Bulbasaur was about to pounce on her, she turned into a red beam of light and disapeared into the ball. I chuckled as I looked into the red-top of the Pokeball - the Eevee was sticking out her tounge at the Bulbasaur who sulked in front of me.

"Saaaaurrr..." He pouted sadly, looking down at the ground with tears in his eyes. I frowned and patted his head. "Aww, you're just a little guy, aren't you? You wanna be a daddy?" I smiled and he looked at me with bright red eyes. "You need to find your own species, little fella. I don't think Bulbasaurs and Eevees can mate." I laughed, and he looked sad again. "Hey, you want me to help you find another Bulbasaur? Would you like that?"

He nodded with a wide grin on his face, and I grabbed a Pokeball and tossed it at him calmly. He was caught without a struggle, and I held the two newly caught Pokemon's Pokeballs up to each other. Bulbasaur was making lovey-dovey eyes at Eevee, who's ears were pinned back on her head angrily. I laughed.

"Now we just need names," I said to myself. I looked over at Katsu, who was eyeing the Eevee in her Pokeball.

"Let her out for a second," he replied, pointing at Eevee's Pokeball. I nodded, and as soon as she came out, she looked around in fear, but sighed with relief when she saw Bulbasaur wasn't there. Katsu looked at her sadly. "One of Amaya's kits was white... With bright yellow eyes..." He said quietly, and pointed at the Eevee's golden eyes.

I smiled, holding up Eevee to Katsu. "Do you remember this cute young fellow, Eevee?" I asked, and she smiled and pawed at Katsu playfully, squeaking "Veee!" happily. Katsu gave her a small smile. I took her back and poked her on the nose. "Your name will be Amaya." She smiled back at me and licked my face as if to say she loved the name.

Katsu nodded silently and petted Amaya's head, with a look in his eyes that was a mixture of sadness and happiness. "He looks just like her," He whispered, combing out her white mane with his fingers. "Except for her colour. But she has the same eyes as her Mother." Katsu closed his eyes as he felt her soft fur under his fingers. "She's beautiful."

"You won't be sad when you look at her?" I asked him, my voice small and quiet. He nodded his head.

"Never. I've caused to much trouble to her and her sibilings to ever be sad or mad at her." He smiled. "The way I abandoned them... I can't believe I could ever do that."

I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, it's in the past, right? You're sorry for what you did, and it's forgiven." I opened up the Pokeball with Bulbasaur in it, and he raised his eyebrows seductively at Amaya, who growled at him fiercely. "Now we need a name for this lovebird here." I said, pointing at Bulbasaur.

Katsu looked at the plant-Pokemon with his hand to his chin. "How about Minoru?" He suggested. "It means seed, I think. And it suits him."

I looked Bulbasaur over, repeating "Minoru the Bulbasaur" over and over in my head. Finally, I nodded, scratched his head, and smiled. "Minoru the Bulbasaur. I love it!" Bulbasaur began to repeat "Saur!" proudly. "And apparently, Minoru does too." I chuckled and patted his head.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder. "Well, this was quite an eventful week... I found an undiscovered Pokemon, and found two rare Pokemon in one day. You could call me lucky."

Katsu laughed. "_Could! _You're the luckiest person I've ever met!"

Little did I realize, someone was watching us from the bushes as we began to walk to Celadon.

"_Your luck is about to run out..."_

-----

"Do you hear that, Katsu?" I asked as we walked along Route 8 towards Celadon. I had heard a faint rustling in the bushes that was made by to big of a something to be a Pokemon.

"Yeah, I did. It's probably just a Pokemon," he replied as he crunched on an apple. "No need to worry."

I snuggled Sakura closer to my chest as she let out a small, scared squeak. "It's alright, Sakura, we'll be fine." I lied, stroking her little yellow head lovingly. I honestly didn't think that it was a Pokemon in those bushes. I knew it was something else... something worse.

And, out of nowhere, leaped the big, grey and black dog Pokemon that was the Mightyena that had attacked us not so long ago. Snarling at us with large, white fangs and swishing his mangled tail angrily, he looked around for his target, and then glared straight at me. "Yena..."

His growl was deep and husky as he slowly walked towards me, his extended claws scraping at the dirt. I was frozen still, and I couldn't hear the screams from Katsu telling me to get out of the way. I couldn't hear the worried crying of Sakura or the angry screams of Rune as he tried to tell the Mightyena to back off.

All I could see was the dark-type slowly coming closer to me, and all I could hear were his angry growls and barks.

And then he lept at me.

My vision was covered by swirling crimson blood as I screamed in pain, clutching the gash in my head as I heard Katsu command his Pokemon to attack the Mightyena. My head was getting light as I continued to lose blood, and I felt dizzy. I felt the large furry body of the Mightyena lunge on top of me again, slashing away at my face and chest.

And suddenly, the weight that was on me was lifted as I heard high pitched screams of anger. A golden blob dashed past me and lunged at the Mightyena. The fight when on for a few minutes, with all our Pokemon fighting with all their strength. And then I heard two words that would haunt my mind forever.

_"Kin, NO!"_

I smelled something faint then. It was a mind-boggling one that could make you go mad. It was the same smell that I had when my Mother told me that my pet Pidgey had to go away forever as we looked at his stiff, lifeless body.

It was the scent of death.

-----

"Kin... Wa- wake up, Kin..."

The tears were coming and refused to stop. I was shaking his cold, unmoving body while everyone surrounded me, tears in their eyes. Those beautiful, black eyes that once flourished with enthusiasm and love were now emotionless and glazed as they stared into nothingness.

"Kin, _wake up. _Wake up, dammit!" I screamed. "Here, you see this? This... this is my backpack! Chew on it, okay? R-rip it apart! _Just wake the hell up!"_ I fell onto his body, hugging it tightly. "Please... you can't be dead, Kin... I love you..."

_Keiko..._

I looked up, and Rune was looking at me sadly with tears in his eyes. _It'll be alright, Keiko. We can go to the Pokemon Tower and give him a proper burial._

"No," I whispered. "It's... It's my fault. He died because of me."

_Don't say that! He died _protecting _you! He went out with glory! He loved you! _Rune said angrily, clenching his fists. He calmed himself down and sighed. _Keiko, he didn't die because of you... he died for love._

"He's right, Keiko." replied Katsu, who sat down next to me. "He at least went out with glory. And... We'll all miss him. It'll be okay." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly, while I still had Sandshrew in my arms. "It's going to be okay."

"No it won't."

We all looked up to see a figure emerge from the shadows. He wore black clothes, a black cap and a distinctive red "R" on his shirt. "That will teach you to meddle with Team Rocket. Now give us that Cherimu unless you want another one of your pathetic Pokemon dead!" He grinned evily as an injured but still strong Mightyena appeared next to him.

_Get out of here... _Hissed Rune. _You killed a Pokemon! How can you _live _with yourselves! You're going to pay, you scum. _He clenched his fists, and his hands glowed with psychic energy stronger than I had ever seen. _You may want to close your eyes, everyone. _He said, as he turned to us. And I did, clutching Kin in my arms all the while. And then, there was a huge, bright flash of light, and screams and howls of pain as Rune unleashed his most powerful powers on the Rocket and his Mightyena.

I opened my eyes and lay Kin gently on the ground, and pulled the forget-me-nots out of my backpack, resting them by his feet. Five had blossomed. _That's two new ones... _I thought to myself as I petted Kin's unmoving body. One was yet to bloom.

And the last one, that had ended up over Kin's chest, was faded in colour, with leaves crinkling off as it drooped with death. The tears came again, because I knew.

Kin was gone.


	9. Chapter 8

"And we shall never forget the spirit and love that this wonderful Sandshrew has given us through the years. Kin Aomari will be deeply missed, but he now shall live in Heaven with his brethren as he looks down on us, now and forever. Amen."

"Amen," we repeated. The priest bowed to us, wished us luck in life, and left us alone with Kin's grave. It was hard to believe that under the cold, hard dirt was my happy, hyperactive Sandshrew who would rip apart all my belongings. Our time together had seemed so short; I had only captured him a few months ago. Five or six months, I believe it was.

But why? Why had God decided to take Kin away from me so soon? And why do the flowers bloom and wilt whenever I lose someone or gain someone? I rubbed my temples that were hidden underneath the black veil that covered my red face. Everyone, even the Pokemon, was crying until their eyes were red. Katsu hadn't said very much at all. To much on his mind, I suppose.

"Goodbye, Kin. I love you..." I whispered, wiping away a tear. "We should get going, Katsu. It's pouring and thundering out." I said quietly, and he nodded silently and we all headed into the nearest Pokemon Center and rented out rooms.

I slipped into my pajamas and returned all of my Pokemon, except for Sakura, as I let her sleep next to me. She had a few small tears in her eyes as she watched me cry. "It's okay, Sakura. Mommy is okay." I hugged her tightly and I pulled the white blanket up and over us. "Goodnight, Sakura." I whispered, and we both drifted off to sleep.

-----

_"Murderer."_

_"Sandshrew hater."_

_"You killed him!"_

_The voices... they won't stop... They're torturing me, make them stop...!_

_Wait... Bright lights... Gold... Yellow blob... It's coming into focus. Kin? Is that you?_

_"You killed me, Keiko. It's all your fault."_

_No, wait, I didn't mean to. I try to talk. I can't._

_Now they're coming towards me. They're claws are extended. I try to run. I can't move. As far as I know, I'm dead already._

_"You killed me. Open your eyes, it's so obvious! Wake up, Keiko! Wake up! Wake up...!"_

"Wake up, Keiko!"

"What!" I immediately shot out of bed in a cold sweat, and Katsu was looking at me.

"You kept talking in your sleep. Are you okay?" He asked, feeling my forehead. "Are ya sick?"

I pushed him away grumpily. "My Sandshrew just died. Do you _think _I'm okay?" I replied, glaring at him. He hung his head down, and I immediately felt bad for being so rude. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm just... not myself anymore." I cradled Sakura in my arms, who had begun to cry. "Shh, it's okay, Sakura," I looked at Amaya who had somehow escaped from her Pokeball. She was scraping at the window while whining.

"It's raining and the middle of the night, Amaya. I can't let you out now." I said groggily. Her bright yellow eyes seemed to glow in anticipation as she pawed at the window. I sighed. Katsu plucked her from the sill and set her on the foot of my bed. "Sleep here, Amaya, and we'll let you out tomorrow." He said, and gave her a scratch behind the ears. "I'm going to go back to bed, Keiko. You should try to, too."

I nodded, and shut my eyes, but sleep would not come. I groaned as I flopped around hopelessly. "Need sleep," I muttered, flopping onto my back. I sighed and opened my backpack and took a sleeping pill. "I'll need these for a while," I whispered before drifting slowly off to sleep.

-----

I yawned, stretched my arms and checked the clock - 5:48 AM! Why on earth did I wake up so early? I sighed and dug through my backpack for some quick breakfast. _A granola bar? ...Whatever, it'll do. _I thought as I took a bite of the granola bar I found. I gave Sakura a few pieces which she nibbled on happily.

I squinted as I looked up at the golden, shining sun that had begun to creep over the hills. It's brilliant colour had reminded me so much of Kin... I couldn't take it. I broke down again, and began to cry my eyes out. Amaya walked over to me and nuzzled me, while Sakura was giving me little hugs. I smiled weakly and pet both of them, telling them I was okay.

"Alright, so Kin is gone. I can get through this." I whispered to myself. "Like they said... he died with glory." I rubbed my eyes to find no more tears - I suppose I'd used them all already. I sighed and put on some clean clothes, released my Pokemon and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Come on, guys. Let's go to the Gym." I whispered to them as I tiptoed through the Center. "And be quiet, we don't want to wake anyone up."

"Good morning miss, do you need us to heal your Pokemon before you head out?"

I squeaked, surprised, and turned around to see that one of the Nurse Joys was already awake, smiling at me and waiting. "Don't be so surprised. We're always up early in the morning. Trainers often like to get a head start on the day."

I shrugged. "Oh, well, that's convenient." I looked down at my Pokemon, and they seemed healthy enough right now. Besides, I didn't want to take the trouble and return all four of them just to get them healed when they were almost at full health already. "No, I don't need them to be restored. Thank you anyway." Nurse Joy nodded as I walked out the automatic doors with my Pokemon.

I picked up Rune and placed him on my head. "Are you ready for a battle, Rune?" I asked him, and he simply shrugged.

_I'm ready... but are you sure that you're up for one? _He asked me, concerned about my sudden want to battle the gym leader.

"Of course." I replied, furrowing my brow. "I'm just peachy, okay? I'll be fine. Look, there's the gym right there. Let's go." I added, pointing to the large building ahead of us. We ran as fast as we could towards it until we were all panting for breath in front of the doors to the gym.

It was really, really hot in there. To keep the plants healthy, I guessed, but it was still nearly unbearable. Dozens of bright, healthy green plants lined the walls and formed a maze to get the leader - and it just _had _to be packed with dozens of amateur grass-pokemon trainers. I sighed. "Looks like this'll take a while..."

-----

Soon enough, we made it to the gym leader. My Pokemon were still in great shape - those trainers were a breeze.

"Well, ready to lose, fellow trainer?" Erika said as she smirked. I shook my head 'no', and told Rune to get out there and win. He hopped onto the Arena, posing and ready for battle. Erika sent out her Victreebell - a big yellow... thingy.

"Victreebell, use Wrap!"

"Rune, blast the vines off with Psybeam!"

Vines extended from the gaping mouth of Victreebell, and they wrapped themselves around Rune, squeezing him every second. Rune focused himself, energy glowing around his hands, and after a few seconds, he released the power of the vines of his opponent, each move taking health off of each side.

"Rune, Metronome!"

The Abra waggled a finger, and suddenly ice beamed out from his hands and hit the Victreebell, who blinked as it kept coming towards it. "Gah, I was aiming for a fire move..." I looked up when I found out that the Victreebell had been frozen solid, and I smiled. "But that'll work too."

"Alright, Rune! Metronome again, and try for a fire move!" I shouted, and he did. Lucky for us, fire suddenly formed around his fist, and he ran towards the Victreebell and punched through the ice with all his might. He made it close enough to the Victreebell to melt the ice _and _set it on fire, fainting it in a matter of minutes.

I cheered for Rune, and he suddenly began to glow... He was glowing white, and he seemed to be changing shape. After a few minutes of staring, confusion, and thinking, he stopped glowing. He was taller, with long whiskers sprouting beneath his nose. A red star was imprinted on his head, along with another red marking on his stomach beneath the brown armor that protected his chest. He now gripped a spoon in one hand, and had a longer and seemingly fluffier tail. I ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Congratulations, Rune! You've evolved into a Kadabra! I'm so proud!" I sobbed as I continued to hug him. He chuckled and said thank you before returning to the arena.

Erika was fuming as she returned her Victreebell, and sent out a purplish little Pokemon, with an orange flower growing on its head. It was beautiful, and then I could smell it. God, that smell was _atrocious!_

Covering my nose, I told Rune to use Confusion. The blasts hit Vileplume but barely did any damage.

"Vileplume, Sleep Powder!"

I didn't like the sound of _that._

Pollen of some sort began to float up and out of the middle of the flower on Vileplume's head. It slowly blew over to Rune and let itself fall onto him, causing him to yawn sleepily and curl up to nap. I pulled on my hair. "AUGH! Rune! Wake up!" Erika laughed, instructing Vileplume to keep using Mega Drain. Quickly enough, Rune had fainted.

"No! Rune! Wake up!" I screamed, clutching my head. Erika simply laughed. "He fainted, relax. Just send out another Pokemon." She replied, and I glared. I held Rune in my arms and instructed Minoru to battle. He hopped out, looking eager, and immediately used leach seed on Vileplume.

"Nice attack, Minoru..." I told him, grinning. "Alright, now let's take her out with a Sludge Bomb!"

Purple goo slowly dripped out of the bud on Minoru's back, and it was suddenly launched at the Vileplume, soaking it in sludge. She spun around for a moment, dazed, and fell to the ground. I cheered and ran up to Bulbasaur, hugging him. "Good job, Minoru! Ya did it!"

Erika pouted as she handed me the Rainbow Badge. "Well, you defeated me. You earned this." I took it from her hands and smiled. "Thank you," I replied, and put it in my badge case as me and my Pokemon walked confidently out the door. It was around seven now, I believe - the battle had taken about an hour. I healed Rune and knocked loudly on Katsu's door, trying to wake him up.

"Wha...? Who's there?" I heard him ask groggily.

"It's me, Katsu. Get up. I got the Rainbow Badge, and now I'm making sure you do, too." I answered, and before I could say anything else he opened the door and was already completely dressed.

"Nice! Now let's go get me a badge!" He exclaimed, grabbing his bag and running out of the Center. It must've looked strange to see two Trainers with a Kadabra floating beside one trainer, a Cherimu in the same one's arms, and a Treecko, a Poochyena, a Shuppet, shiny Eevee, and a Bulbasaur running after them. People did stare, but it only made us laugh as we ran to the gym.

As we made our way to the gym, Amaya leaped onto Katsu's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek happily. He looked over at her and smiled sadly, their eyes locking as Katsu and his old pet indirectly reunited, in a way. I could only smile as the two bonded with each other.

"Look, there's the gym!" I shouted, pointing to the building. Katsu looked over his shoulder at Shuppet expectantly, who simply floated in the air, a cold look in his eyes. My rival shook his head, and entered the gym with only confidence in his mind.

"Great, another one." Erika said crossly, putting her hands on her hips and flipping her hair back. "Well, let's get this over with, shall we? Go, Victreebell!" And then emerged Victreebell, gaping mouth, sharp teeth and all. Of course, Katsu sent out Shuppet - his only Pokemon that knew fire attacks. "Shuppet, Sunny Day!"

As if it weren't already bright and hot enough, the sun shone brighter than ever. "Alright, Shuppet, quick, use Will-o-wisp!" Katsu ordered. Fire formed around Shuppet, and the flames seemed to dance around him as he shot blasts of fire at the Victreebell, who was now on fire, screaming, and bouncing around helplessly as he burned. Obviously, he fainted rather quickly. Erika crossed her arms after sending out Vileplume.

"Vileplume, before he can attack! Mix Sleep powder with Poison powder!"

The Vileplume nodded, and shook up the flower on its head before releasing the combined powders onto the Shuppet, poisoning it - but it stayed awake. Katsu grinned. "Thank God for Insomnia. Alright, Shuppet, keep using Will-o-wisp! Don't stop until she's fainted!"

Shuppet did as told. He kept blasting fire at Vileplume, and Vileplume kept sending Poison powder at Shuppet. Eventually...

"Shuppet fainted! Ha!" Exclaimed Erika happily.

"But you failed to notice that so has your Vileplume," pointed out Katsu proudly. "And since I still have one Pokemon remaining, the badge goes to me!" He puffed out his chest importantly, and Erika sighed and handed him the badge. "Fine, fine. You earned it, so here you go." Katsu did another stupid victory dance and put the badge in his case as we walked out the door.

"So where to now, Keiko?" Asked Katsu after we healed our Pokemon. "We've beaten the gym already."

I looked over at a sign next to a building. "Hmm... The Game Corner. Let's go there! We need a break from all this battling, anyway." I suggested, and already started to walk there before Katsu could say yes. The air was cool here, a nice break from the boiling heat of Erika's gym.

I looked around - poker tables, slot machines, a gambler's dream world! I smiled and walked up to the counter to buy some coins, and looked over to see a suspicious looking man standing in front of a poster. After buying my coins, I went up to him, with Katsu following. Just as I was about to ask what he was doing, he glared at me.

"There's no secret button behind this poster! Get out of here!" He snarled.

I blinked. "I never said there was..."

"What, you don't believe me? Grr, I'd better alert the Boss!" He hissed, and lifted up the poster and disappeared behind it. Me and Katsu exchanged nervous glances, lifted up the poster, and began our journey through the Team Rocket Hideout.

-----

It was plain in here - white walls, white tiled floors, and nothing except a few stray items lying around, which we picked up for later use. I was scared when I saw the Rockets, though - I rounded up all my Pokemon and sent them back into their balls, except for Rune and Sakura, who I always kept out, due to their hate for Pokeballs. Sakura was crying when she saw the Rockets. It must have brought back some bad memories... All I could do was comfort her and tell her it was okay, but I knew that it really wasn't.

Dozens of Rockets threatened us, battled us, cheated us, and even tried to fight us without using Pokemon, which we politely declined to. One of them had the nerve to run after us trying to punch us, but Rune sent him flying back with a Psybeam. Not many Rockets tried to fight without Pokemon after that.

We didn't see any Mightyena's, luckily, or else I probably would have frozen up. Most of the Rockets here had only Kanto Pokemon. Regardless, some of them were strong, some of them were easy - but in the end we beat most of them, and sometimes were able to avoid them. The real trouble is when we came to the Boss...

"Here already? I figured you would have been beaten up by now..." Chuckled a deep voice. We had finally made it to an office-like room, complete with a desk, lamp, computer, and all the things you'd expect to see in an office. Excluding the strange, purple-topped pokeball with an "M" on it, that sat in a glass case on his desk.

Sitting on a chair behind the desk was the Boss himself - Giovanni, and his equally evil Persian. He stroked his loyal Pokemon behind the ears while he looked at us, smirking with a gleam in his eyes. "I suppose you're here for revenge for your pathetic little Sandshrew, aren't you?" He chuckled. "Well, you won't be getting that. The only thing you'll be getting is-"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it at us. "-a quick, painless death. Unless you comply to my demands and give me that 'Cherimu' or whatever you call it, you die. An undiscovered Pokemon is just what Team Rocket needs to become famous."

"You will _never _get Sakura! You hear me? _Never!"_ I hissed back, holding her closer to me. "She means more to me than just a rare one of a kind Pokemon! She's like the child I never had! And you will _never, _I repeat, _never _get your filthy hands on her!" Tears were welling up in Sakura's eyes as she whimpered in fear. I was crying as well, but I was to angry to notice it. What made that wretched scum think he could take my baby! No matter the answer, I wouldn't give her up.

"Very well." He replied calmly. "You have made your choice. You all die, and I'll get to keep the Cherimu anyway."

"Wait!" exclaimed Katsu, shaking with fear. "Please don't! Can't we work something out, somehow!"

Giovanni didn't move the gun, but thought for a moment. "Perhaps I can make a deal with you. We have a Pokemon battle. If I win, you and your little girlfriend die, and I keep all your Pokemon."

Me and Katsu rolled our eyes. "The last thing he is my boyfriend," I replied honestly, "He's my _rival."_ Katsu nodded in agreement.

The Team Rocket leader shrugged. "Whatever you say. Now, stop stalling, and let's battle! Go, Kangaskhan!" He grabbed an Ultra Ball from the line of three Pokeballs on his desk. The ball enlarged in his hands, and the beam of red light took the form of a two-legged dinosaur-like Pokemon. She had a thin layer of grey-brown protection over her head and two horns on each side of her skull. She had brown scales, with a yellow underbelly and pouch. Sitting in the pouch was a smaller version of the Kangaskhan - her baby. I'd feel bad about hurting a Mother, but this was for our lives.

"Alright, Rune, you first. Use Focus Punch, but try to avoid hurting her baby!" I shouted - no matter how evil this Kangaskhan could be, I couldn't hurt her baby, who was new to the world and ignorant of evil and hate - sort of like Sakura, I thought to myself.

Rune did as told. He focused on his target, putting all of his power into his one clenched fist as he darted towards his opponent, teleporting in different places while he did so to confuse her. When he was close enough, he drew back his fist and punched the Kangaskhan in the nose area, right below it's helmet-like armor. It roared in pain and angrily charged back with it's jaws opened wide, and clamping down on Rune's tail as he turned to run. Rune winced in pain, but kept his act together.

"Kangaskhan, use Rest!" shouted Giovanni, and Kangaskhan simply nodded, and curled up to sleep to restore its health.

Seeing my chance and thinking quickly, I told Rune to use Dream Eater.

I couldn't see what Rune was doing then, but one night I asked him what using Dream Eater was like. He described it sort of like this:

"_Using Dream Eater can make me feel guilty at times... but it gets the job done. When I was fighting that Kangaskhan, for instance..._

_"As my soul escaped, I could see my body laying limply on the ground, and it sort of makes me shudder at times. It's like seeing your body after you die. I shrugged it off and entered the mind of the napping Kangaskhan. Pokemon have the most interesting dreams, you know - often they are memories of their past. And everyone has a particularly sad moment in their life, and my job is to seek it out. I pick through their dreams and nightmares until I find one thats painful to even watch._

_"I found one. It was when the Kangaskhan had three children, a few years back, it looked like. Before she was captured. There was a horrible fire, and she could only protect one of her children... The other two burned. She saw their bodies. And then I reminded her of it in her dreams, the one place where she was supposed to be able to be happy._

_"When she woke up I could see the pained expression on her face as she fainted, and I knew my job was done. The only bad part? It hurts me too. Not outside, but inside. Seeing a Pokemon in so much pain - and knowing that you put it there - is unbearable. I was so hurt I was close to fainting."_

The way he described it to me wanted to make me cry. I probably would have never instructed him to use Dream Eater if I had ever known what it did.

I watched as the Kangaskhan fell to the ground with a pained look on her face. Giovanni cursed, and sent out his next Pokemon - a huge, bulky rock-like rhino. It's hard to describe what he looked like - I guess you could say just a big creature made up of rocks, really, with a horn above where his nose would be. Two sharp fangs hung out of his mouth as he scraped the ground with his claws, ready to battle.

I noticed that Rune was looking weak; so I told him to come back, and I sent out Minoru, hoping that the tiny grass Pokemon would be able to defeat this massive hunk of rock.

"Minoru, Leech Seed!" I ordered, and a couple tiny seeds fired out of his bulb, landed and injecting themselves into the Rhyhorn who snorted, as if to say "That's all?"

Giovanni nodded at his Rhyhorn, and the rock-type's horn began to slowly twirl, and as it started to pick up speed, it charged at Minoru, head lowered and his horn aiming straight for the Bulbasaur. "Minoru, use your vines top stop the drill!" I shouted, and he nodded and about half a dozen vines emerged from his bulb, each of them wrapping around the drilling horn. They kept getting tangled and twisted, but Minoru wouldn't give up. He planted his feet on the ground, holding on with all his might.

Eventually, the Rhyhorn grew tired and gave up. He stopped the drill, stepped back, and waited. I simply smiled at Minoru proudly, and ordered the next command before Giovanni could. "Minoru, Solarbeam! Take twice as long to charge up so we have more power!"

Sunlight began to literally stream down into the opening in the Bulbasaur's bulb, giving Minoru energy for the attack. He was able to dodge the Rhyhorn's tackles and drills and bites long enough to gain twice as much energy than normal for a Solarbeam. The light Minoru had collected started to glow at the top of his bulb, and an amazing beam of energy shot out at the Rhyhorn. The room brightened up so much; I had to cover my eyes to not go blind. It was like looking at the sun.

When the light cleared, Minoru stood proudly, looking at a fainted Rhyhorn. I gasped, and went up to Minoru and squeezed him tight. "Your first victory!" I exclaimed, looking him in the eyes. "And that victory happened to be one step closer to saving our lives." I said jokingly, and stepped out of the arena.

Giovanni still remained calm, even after we wiped out two of his Pokemon. "You have brought me down to my last Pokemon. It is my strongest of the three, and I have almost no doubt he can take out all of your Pokemon in just a few hits." He smirked, and grabbed the last Pokeball off his desk.

Out came a gigantic rock snake. There's no other way to describe it, really; a mass of rocks conjoined together to form a snake-like beast, towering at least 20 feet. I could only stare in fright, before noticing that the Onix had already crushed Minoru. Stunned, I returned him into his Pokeball, and sent Amaya out to do the job.

"Alright, Amaya, use Toxic." I stuttered, and she nodded, and went up to Onix and, somehow, sunk her teeth into him, and released a poisonous venom from her fangs into the rock snake. He merely grunted, knowing that being poisoned by such a tiny thing couldn't hurt him very much.

"It is time for my most powerful move," Giovanni said confidently, "Onix, use Tornado."

The Onix reared up to it's full height, and suddenly began spinning itself around and around, forming the shape of a tornado. It hurled rocks everywhere, crashing down on Amaya ruthlessly, and eventually it picked her up inside the tornado. Soon enough she was launched out of the arena, crash-landing at my feet, fainted.

I gasped at what I had just seen. Although it had severely hurt my Pokemon, I had to admit - that move was amazing. I sighed, returned Amaya to her Pokeball, and sent out my last hope - Rune.

Low on health, Rune couldn't put up much of a fight, but he tried. He managed to lower the Onix's health, but it wasn't very long until he too was a victim of the dreaded rock tornado himself.

I noticed that all my Pokemon were fainted and in their Pokeballs already. I turned to Katsu, and he seemed to understand.

He grasped a ball in his hands, ready to fight, "Alright, my turn! Go Poochye-"

"Ah, ah, ah," Interrupted Giovanni, wagging a finger. "This is between me and that young lady there. And unless your Cherimu there can defeat my Onix, I'm afraid that you've lost already."

Me and Katsu had tears in our eyes; our lives were on the line and the only one who could save them was the little bundle of pink and yellow that I held in my arms.

"Sakura?" I asked, kneeling down and looking her in her beady red eyes, "I want you to make that Onix faint, okay? I want you to try your very hardest to win this battle for mommy. I'll be very proud of you if you do." I wiped a tear away from my eye.

"Cheri!" she replied happily, and hopped off into the arena. I sniffed as I watched her prepare for battle, and Giovanni eye the gun on the desk as he grinned with pride. I was depending on a newly hatched Pokemon that I didn't even know the moves of, so she'd have to fight for herself. She was a baby! A _baby! _I knew I would lose... But I was so close to victory I could taste it. I had to believe in her... but I nearly fainted when I heard Giovanni command Onix's next attack.

"Onix, use Tornado."


	10. Chapter 9

And the beast reared its ugly head again, extending to his full height and towering over Sakura, who was simply looking up curiously. The Onix moved so slowly, as if it were taunting us, and curled into a Tornado shape, spinning around slowly... then quicker... and quicker, and quicker, and quicker until he was in the shape of a tornado and moving almost as fast as one. Sakura trilled happily and waltzed closer to the giant spinning rock snake. She waggled her finger back and forth while hopping on one foot and then the other, like a little dance. It was sort of like when Rune used Metronome...

And then, a jet of water sprayed out of her two tiny arms, aiming straight at the Onix tornado. Although they were small streams of water, they were defiantly moving at a very fast pace, likely to sting even a grass Pokemon. She looked determined, and didn't let an ounce of water get away from the Onix, making sure every single droplet hit him - and it did. It may not have been enough to knock her opponent out, but it was enough to make him roar painfully.

The Onix spun faster, desperatly and quickly moving around the arena to hit Sakura, but she managed to move out of the way just in time. When she decided she was far away enough, she shut her eyes, and began to move her tiny pink arms around in the air, as if summoning something.

And then, a literal storm of leaves came out of nowhere, slashing at the Onix and from what I could see, even chipped off a few rocks. The storm of razor-sharp leaves eventually settled, and the Onix was groaning each time he tried to move around. He didn't give up, oh no, he couldn't do that, but he was moving much slower than usual.

Onix stopped spinning, knowing that it wasn't getting him anywhere. Now he was just launching himself at Sakura, trying to squash her beneath his mighty rock-like body. Checking out her surroundings, I could see my Cherimu's gaze direct at the sunroof; the tops of the two red buds on her head opened, and sunlight streamed into them as she charged power for what I expected to be Solarbeam.

And then, the unthinkable happened. Onix dived fowards as she was charging energy, and Sakura didn't notice quick enough. She was squashed beneath Onix, who was now grinning proudly. Giovanni stepped forward, gun gripped in his hand. "Well, it looks like my job here is done. Goodbye, you pathetic childre-"

And suddenly, just as I was about to start crying my eyes out, a miracle happened.

Giant beams of light erupted from under the Onix, and an explosion could be heard that was so loud it was nearly deafening. The beam of sunlight sent Onix flying through the sunroof, causing glass to shatter and drop down to the ground. When the beam stopped, all that was left was Sakura, waddling towards me happily as she chirped her species name.

Giovanni was stunned, his eyes wide and mouth gaping open as he stared in disbelief at what had just happened. "That puny thing... beat my Onix?" He stuttered, looking up at the ceiling for any sign of his Pokemon. He sighed, and slipped the gun back into a drawer in his desk. "I am a man of my word. But that does not mean I won't be back. I'll be seeing you little kids very soon..." He then stepped onto an oddly-designed floor tile, and teleported away.

Sakura jumped into my arms, shut her eyes, made some sort of purring noise, and went to sleep. All I could do was stare at her with my eyes wide open and my jaw on the floor in amazement - somethinng barely half a foot tall beat a 20 foot tall Pokemon made of solid rock? Regardless, I smiled, and hugged her tightly. "Mommy's so proud of you, Sakura." I cooed gently, scratching behind where her ears would be. She squealed in delight, hugging me back.

Katsu was just staring in disbelief. "How on earth..." he stuttered, blinking. "How did she _do _that!"

I laughed a little. "She's pretty powerful for a baby... guess we underestimated her."

He simply shook his head in reply. Then he pointed at the desk with a confused look on his face. "Now that that's over with... What's up with that Pokeball over there? It's all... purple."

We walked slowly over to the desk, and lifted up the glass case carefully and picked up the Pokeball. There was a slip of paper under it. I picked it up and read it over slowly:

_This is the Master Ball, the most powerful ball ever. It can capture any Pokemon without fail. There is only one in existance so far._

"Without fail!" We exclaimed at the same time, "That's... amazing."

"Well," I replied, putting the Master Ball in my bag, "We might need this sometime... For what, I don't know. But we should get going." Katsu nodded in agreement. I released Rune from his Pokeball. He had regained some health. "Rune, could ya Teleport us out of here?"

Rune smiled, closed his eyes, and in a split second, we were back at the Celadon Pokecenter.

-----

"Alright, Fuchsia City is just a few more minutes away... the gym leader there specializes in Poison types." I said as I looked at my Pokenav. "Oh, and look at this brochure!" I held up a pamphlet of papers that someone had given me when I said we were going to Fuchsia. "It says there's a Safari Zone too, where you can catch rare Pokemon!"

Katsu grinned. "Let's go there before we go to the gym. We could use a new Pokemon to help us defeat Koga." As we neared Fuchsia, I counted my money to make sure I had enough on hand to get in. "Let's see here... It costs 15$ to get in, and a discounted price of 22$ if we pay for two tickets." I thumbed through my wad of money and smiled. I had at least 50$ on me, and that was defiantly enough.

As we walked towards the Safari Zone, we went by a mini-zoo. There were Chanseys, Kangaskhans, Rhyhorns and all the rarest Pokemon they had in big, tidy cages. The Chansey caught my eye the most; I'd defiantly try to catch one of those. They were supposed to be lucky, after all - and if all the cooking shows Mother used to watch are right, then Chansey eggs are an extremely delicious and nutritious part of any meal.

"Two tik'its? Thatull be twenteh tyew dollahs." said the man at the ticket booth, trying his best to fake an accent. Katsu and I rolled our eyes, paid for our tickets and began to walk outside, when a women stopped us. "'Scuse me," she asked, holding out a tray, "You'll have to leave your Pokemon with us. We don't want you to fight with the Pokemon in the Safari Zone."

We shrugged, recalled all our Pokemon (it was rather tough coaxing Rune and Sakura to get into a Pokeball, but eventually we convinced them), and put the balls in the tray. She smiled and handed us each 30 Safari Balls and some bait. finally we were able get out into the fresh Safari Zone air.

We saw dozens of Doduo, Rattata, and Nidoran, but none of the rarer ones; I wasn't about to give up, though, I had at least three hours to waste and I was going to spend them looking for a Chansey. Katsu proudly declared he was going to catch a Rhyhorn, no matter how many Pokeballs or bait it took.

I continued my hopeless search throughout the 'zone, hoping each time I heard the rustle of grass that it might be that big pink blob of luck, Chansey. I did find one, but what I ended up catching was completely unexpected...

"Chansey! Chaaaansey!" squealed a high-pitched voice.

I spun around to see a Chansey right in front of me, jumping up and down and pointing somewhere. I blinked, surprised, but I followed her as she began to tug at my shirt frantically, squeaking, frightened. "Alright, alright, I'm coming. Where are we going?"

"Chansey chan!" She replied, pointing in the direction she was leading. I sighed, "Well, that was helpful..."

Finally, after fifteen minutes of "Chansey!" and my shirt being tugged on, we came to a large clearing in the forest. I looked around and saw nothing, and scratched my head in confusion. "I don't see anythi-"

"Grrrrroarr..."

A weak combination of a roar and a moan could be heard, and I finally saw it. A few dozen feet away, there seemed to be a large Pokemon lying on the ground, extremely weak. I immediately rushed over, concerned, with the Chansey eagerly waddling after me, wanting to help. When we got there, I gasped.. That was the exact pokemon Giovanni had used against us! A Kangaskhan!

It was badly injured. I'll have to refrain from giving to many details, but here's the main one: it looked like she was hunted down and eaten. And by looking at the tooth marks, the criminal? ...A Mightyena. Immediately I was fuming, clenching my fists and cursing Mew for ever creating such a bloodlust creature.

Her arms were protecting her pouch, but it didn't seem like there was a baby in there. Her arms were badly bruised, bitten and, from the looks of it, she was also poisoned somehow. Her eyes had lost any sparkle and luster that they might have had before, and her mouth was hanging open as she groaned painfully. This wasn't something the Nurse Joys at the Pokecenter could fix; this Kangaskhan was almost gone. We had gotten here to late.

Chansey and I tried our best. I gave her potions, berries, Chansey supplied dozens of eggs to her, but it was all for nothing. Sooner than I had gotten there, the Kangaskhan moaned one last time, shut her eyes, and lay limp. Not in a fainted way, no. ...She was dead. I hung my head sadly. What was I thinking? I should have alerted a Safari staff member! I sighed, and I was about to walk away when a heard a faint, sad squeak.

"Khan?"

I spun around, hoping to see the Kangaskhan alive and well again, but no. All I saw was Chansey desperatly trying to move the Pokemon's arms off of her pouch. I turned around again, and... wait... Pouch? The squeak? That must mean...

I ran over, and using all my strength, moved the arms of the Kangaskhan off of her pouch, peeked inside, and saw a scared, crying baby Kangaskhan, who was whimpering with fear. I pulled her out, patting her head and wiping her Mother's blood off of her armor. Her scales were a light purple colour; and I _still _don't understand why Kangaskhans are born purple. She was quite heavy for just a baby. Actually, from what I could see, she was no baby; she was more of a child now, but still growing. Small enough to cradle in my arms; about one foot tall, you could say.

She looked a bit weak, so I handed her a few berries to regain her health. I smiled sadly at her. "Poor girl... You don't have a mother." I whispered, looking into her big black eyes. "Would you like to stay with me? I have another little baby, too. I'm sure you'd love to play with her." She seemed to give me a small smile as I rubbed her head softly. "So, would you like to come with me?" I asked, and she squeaked a meek, "Khan!" in reply.

"Alright, but to officially catch you, I have to put you in a Pokeball for about ten minutes, okay?" I replied, and she nodded her head with a bit of hesitation. I threw a Safari ball at her, and it wiggled a bit at first, but eventually it stopped.

I smiled at Chansey, who bowed to me proudly, and handed me an egg as a gift. "Thank you," I said to her, and patted her head, waved goodbye, and went off to find Katsu.

-----

"So you really caught a baby Kangaskhan? Can I see?" Inquired Katsu curiously. I nodded, and released my newest Pokemon after we exited the door of the Safari zone. She looked around her surroundings, and all our Pokemon quickly crowded around her, curious.

"Bulbasaur!" exclaimed Minoru, little anime hearts popping up in his eyes. "Saurrrr!" He extended a hand as an offer to shake hers, but she ran and hid behind my leg. Amaya trotted over and inspected Kangaskhan suspiciously. After a few minutes and some sniffing, she patted the new Pokemon on the head in approval.

She ventured from behind my leg, and into the circle of Pokemon. "Khaaan.." She whispered nervously, blushing a bit as Bulbasaur continued to lust over her. Rune smiled and shook her hands gently, whilst gripping his silver spoon in his other hand. The spoon caught Amaya's eye, and she quickly sprinted at it, grabbing it in her mouth. Rune blinked, and began to chase after her. Kangaskhan giggled quietly.

"Cheri!" squeaked Sakura as she managed to wiggle out of my arms and to the ground. She waddled over to Kangaskhan and shook her hand enthusiastically. Kangaskhan seemed to like Sakura and they began to talk to each other in their own little Pokemon language, laughing and chatting.

Soon enough she met all of our Pokemon, and became friends with most of them; though she was a bit scared of Shuppet. Just as we were about to leave to the gym, she tugged at my pant leg and reached her arms up as if she wanted me to carry her. I smiled, nodded, and picked her up and placed her in my backpack like it was a pouch. She clapped her hands delightfully.

"So what should we name you, little girl?" I asked her, and I could only hear a chorus of squeaks and 'Khan's. "Hmm.. I wish I could understand you. How do you like the name 'Kasumi'?" I asked her, and she nodded happily with a happy squeal of "Gask!" I grinned. My team was complete; with Rune, Amaya, Minoru, Sakura and Kasumi, I was nearly unstoppable. Perhaps with Kin, I could be fully... I shook my head, trying to just forget him for the moment, and be happy that I had found Kasumi.

With our inseperable group of ten, we all ventured into the gym with confidence in our minds, and a spoon in Amaya's mouth.


	11. Chapter 10

I must have forgotten to mention that I own Pokemon. All of it. Seriously, I bought it off of eBay last week.

Just kidding. Isn't it obvious I don't own Pokemon? ;-;

RebirthFlame: Thanks for the comment. :) I try my hardest to not make any grammar mistakes, because it is really annoying when someone doesn't bother to spell check their stories... . ;

Skylimit: Thanks for all the comments! Don't worry; I'll try to update once a day. :)

Now, without further ado, I present to you chapter 10!

-----

"Alright, Koga, ready to be owned?" Katsu said confidently.

The gym leader chuckled. "Not likely, little boy. I've toughened since I first became a gym leader, and I think you'll find my Pokemon to be surprisingly strong. Go, Koffing!" He threw the Pokeball in his hands, releasing a large, rock-like, lumpy purple Pokemon with gas floating around it, grinning stupidly as it looked around. _Oh, gross... _I thought as I was able to smell the stench.

"Go, Treecko!" called Katsu, and Treecko popped out of his Pokeball and glared at Koffing with piercing yellow eyes. Koffing glared back, and immediately released a toxin in the air so powerful you could faint if you were close enough to it. "Treecko, quick, use dig!" Treecko dug underground and dug frantically away from the toxic gases that were chasing him through his tunnel. Eventually, with Koffing looking around in confusion, Treecko suddenly leaped out of his hole, directly under Koffing and sending him flying. Koffing fainted right away.

"Stupid kid..." Koga muttered, and released his next Pokemon - a similar one to the last, but with a smaller version of itself attatched to its side. With Treecko's ground and bug moves, he took out all of Koga's Pokemon easily - except one. Muk.

"Go, Muk!" The Pokeball released a gigantic blob of purple goo, which gave off a horrifying smell. How on earth could anyone else notice it? The Muk had arms that could sink into itself for when it didn't need them, and a huge, gaping mouth that was dripping with ooze. Two, emotionless eyes were only half open as it looked lazily around the room for it's opponent.

"Muk, use Toxic!"

"Treecko, use dig again!"

Muk hurled glops of purple sludge at Treecko as it scrambled down a hole, weak already from being poisoned by one of Koga's other Koffing's. He was getting weaker by the second, and when he leapt up from the hole...

"Uhh... Where is Treecko?" asked Katsu after noticing that his Pokemon had mysteriously disappeared after using dig on Muk. Muk snapped to attention when he felt Treecko attack him. Reaching inside of himself, he pulled out a fainted, and very slimy Treecko, who's eyes were wide open, probably from the stench.

"Agh! Treecko!" exclaimed Katsu, running up to his Pokemon desperately. "Treecko, return." He said reluctantly, and sent out his next best bet - Shuppet. Shuppet looked around, blinking confusedly - and then saw Muk. He glared for a moment, and without Katsu saying a word, Muk was fainted by a powerful Psychic blast of energy.

"Woohoo, go Shuppet!" exclaimed Katsu happily, while Shuppet just looked at him with a vacant expression. Koga sighed and walked over to Katsu, handing him the Soul Badge. "That was just luck." Koga mumbled gruffly, and walked away. "Good luck on the next gym, kid!" He called, before heading back into the back room.

-----

To tell you the truth, writing about so many battles really hurts my hand. So I'll once again spare you the details of my battle, but it was pretty easy with Rune. Although Muk was a struggle, I beat them all with a few blasts of Psychic and Confusion. Kasumi was a little scared from seeing two Pokemon fight, but I told her that they never got badly hurt.

As we left the gym, Kasumi was digging through my backpack when she found the forget-me-nots, and she held one of them up in the air squealing with delight. I looked at it. The bud was slowly opening, a violet flower ready to bloom. I twirled it around in my hand for a few moments, thinking. Maybe Katsu was right; maybe these flowers _were _cursed? Or just a sign? But of what?

"Keiko? You ready to get to bed yet?" Katsu asked, pointing at the Pokecenter. "We could walk around a bit more, but it's getting really dark. Dark Pokemon come out during the night and that includes..."

I glared at him before he could finish his sentence, and he shut up and turned back towards the road. "No way, Katsu. It's only about nine o'clock, and I think we'll make it to Saffron by ten. Or are you too _tired_ for that?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him angrily. He blinked in confusion. Neither of us knew why I was in a bad mood right now.

"Okay then," He muttered in reply. "We'll go to Saffron."

I shivered as I pulled my coat around me, a cool night breeze blowing through the air. I could see a few Dark Pokemon emerging now; Murkrow, Poochyena, Sneasel and others. Amaya was admiring all the Umbreon that were gracefully striding through the night, with their glowing golden rings. She tried to imitate their midnight prowls, pinning her ears back and crouching as she walked - she only ended up tripping over her own feet.

Katsu yawned groggily, slouching over as we walked. I sighed. "I'm tired too, Katsu, but look. We're almost there, and then we can get a room in the Pokecenter." He nodded weakly as we continued to trudge on. Up ahead, I could almost see it; the most noticeable thing was a giant building in the center of the city, probably a big company of some sort.

Finally we made it to the city. I wanted to look around, but Katsu protested and eventually we ended up renting a room in the Pokecenter. All of my Pokemon were in their Pokeballs, sleeping soundly, except for Sakura and Rune as always. Sakura was already conked out from our long journey, and Rune was a bit more tired than usual; I couldn't blame him. He _had_ been battling a lot, lately.

"Nighty night," I whispered to Sakura, and before I fell asleep, I could've sworn I saw a pair of angry yellow eyes looking through the window... I was creeped out, but I just shrugged it off and went to sleep.

-----

Morning time. The worst time of the day. The sunlight was directed right onto my eyes, burning them as I squinted and sat up, groaning. And before I could stand up, a Mightyena leaped at me!

"GRRRR!"

I screamed, causing the Nurses to wake up and rush into the room. I quickly realized it was just Katsu in a Mightyena mask, rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Keiko," he said, standing up, "I just couldn't help i-"

_SLAP!_

After a long lecture and a slap on the face, Katsu walked out the door grumbling about how I couldn't take a joke. I sighed and put on some fresh clothes, my heart still racing from a few minutes ago. I was cursing Katsu under my breath, about how rude he could be and what a jerk he was.

"Wake up, Sakura." I whispered, lifting up the Cherimu. She half-opened her eyes and yawned, and when she saw me she began to squeak with delight. "Rrriiiiii!"

I smiled and walked out the door with Rune and my other three Pokemon in their balls, which were hanging on my belt. "Come on, Katsu," I called, knocking on his door. He opened it swiftly and knocked me out of the way as he brushed past me. "Someone has I bad attitude," I muttered, and followed him out of the Center.

"My Pokenav says there are two gyms here," I said, and Katsu snatched my Pokenav and looked at him for himself.

"You're right! And one of them gives out a prize instead of a badge. I wonder what it is!" He exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face. "Apparently, nobody has beaten it yet. They use fighting Pokemon, so that means..." He grinned and looked up at Shuppet, who seemed rather busy glaring at me. "Fighting type-moves doesn't affect ghosts. And since Shuppet knows some Psychic moves, he'll take those guys out _easy_."

"I'm sure Rune could help me out some, too. Although he's been pretty worn out lately. Think you're up for it, Rune?" I looked down at him, and he smiled at me with a confident look on his face.

_Sure I am! I'm rested up enough, I'll be able to take on a few fighting Pokemon._ He replied. I nodded and grabbed my Pokenav back from Katsu. "And there's a Psychic gym, too. You can beat them with Poochyena alone." I said, astonished that Katsu could have such an advantage over _both _gyms. "I guess I could use Minoru, if he knows any bug moves. And Rune does know Thief, and he could use that a couple of times, I'm not sure how long it would last, though." I added. I shut off my  
Pokenav and put it in my pocket as we headed to the gyms.

"Well, I'll go to the Fighting gym first. You can take a shot at challenging Sabrina. If it doesn't work out, I could lend you Poochyena for the next time you try." He offered, smiling. I smiled back, though a bit surprised at his offer. "Thanks, Katsu. But I think I'll try it with Rune and Bulbasaur first." He nodded, and we parted ways and entered the gyms.

-----

I aimed my Pokedex at Minoru, and it showed me all his information - level, type, Pokedex entry, and moves. I scrolled through his moves, looking desperately for at least one bug one I could use. After finding Fury Cutter, I sighed with a bit of relief. "Okay, he knows one Bug move... He _might _be able to defeat a few opponents with it." I closed my Pokedex. Amaya was resting on my shoulder while Bulbasaur was gazing at her lovingly. She hissed at him, pinning her ears back angrily.

Rune looked up at me, looking a bit confused. _Keiko, I'm completely immune to Psychic attacks. Why are you using Minoru instead? I'm just wondering, is all._

"Well, I'm going to try and train Minoru so he can possibly get stronger, and maybe evolve. I'll use you if he faints. I think you deserve a break from battling, anyway." I replied. He nodded.

"Alright, how do we get around this place..." I muttered, looking around. I saw a tile that looked like the one Giovanni had teleported away on. "Teleporters! Of course!" I stepped on the teleporter, with Rune and Minoru standing next to me, Sakura in my arms, Kasumi in my backpack, and Amaya on my shoulder.

We appeared before a young-looking girl, perhaps about 16 or so, with long, straightened black hair. She gave us a small frown. "You may not want to challenge Sabrina today..." she whispered, and as if she read our minds, she continued. "Something has been going on with her. She just hasn't been acting herself, since last night. Random mood swings. Really bad ones, too."

I shrugged. "Well... I'll just try not to make her mad. I'm sure it's just, uh... hormones, or something." I was glad that Katsu wasn't here; knowing him, he'd probably make some stupid joke and tick off Sabrina by the time we got to her.

"Very well. Your choice." the girl replied, and her Pokeball floated in front of her, releasing a small, pink otter-like creature. "Sloooooowpoke." It said, very, very slowly. I blinked. "Righty-o, then. Go, Minoru!"

Minoru hopped in front of the Slowpoke, and noticing it was a female, began to drool and stare at it, dumbfounded. "Saurrrrr..." I smacked my forehead. "Minoru, just use Fury Cutter until he's fainted." Bulbasaur nodded, and began to slash at Slowpoke with vines, that were edged with sharp leaves. Slowpoke groaned, and blasted the vines away with Psychic.

"Slowpoke, Ice Beam."

Slowpoke nodded slowly, and began to form ice in it's mouth, and blasted it out at my Bulbasaur who fell to the ground. Minoru slowly got up, and then it was a frenzy of ice and whips.

In the end, I lucked out with a Potion on hand, and Minoru got a critical hit at the last second. I sighed in relief, hugging Minoru and stepping onto the next teleporter.

We did beat all the trainers, but Minoru fainted, leaving me to rely on Rune. But that's not so bad, is it? Rune is completely immune to Psychic attacks, so we should have been able to beat Sabrina with ease. But when we got there, something defiantly wasn't right...

Although I had heard of Sabrina being pretty emotionless and even at times cruel, I knew that this couldn't be her at all; by emotionless, I knew it meant she was mostly angry or even crazy. But her red eyes were now a dark purple, and held no emotion at all as she stared at us blankly.

"Do you wish to fight?" she asked in a monotonous voice. I nodded slowly, and she didn't move at all. Only talked. "Very well. If you lose, I get to have my way with you and your weak Pokemon."

Thank _God _Katsu wasn't there.

"Um... I accept?" I replied nervously, and a Venomoth appeared from it's Pokeball, fluttering above Rune.

"Venomoth, use Absorb."

"Rune, use Fire Punch!"

Before Venomoth could take Rune's health, Runes hand glowed with fire and he hit his opponent without mercy. Venomoth immediately fell to the ground, fainted. Sabrina looked at her Pokemon, and her frown grew bigger, and her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes began to glow purple with rage as she clenched her fists.

"How... can... you... defeat... _my Pokemon_?" She hissed, psychic energy glowing around her hands. "_Nobody defeats my Pokemon!"_ Sabrina clenched her teeth, as the energy glowed stronger and her expression was more furious by the second. "_YOU. WILL. PAY!"_ She began to scream, shooting Psychic blasts all over the room.

"Everyone! Get behind me!" I screamed, and all my Pokemon scurried behind me into a corner as I stood defensively in front of them. Sabrina was surely going insane... The room was filled with cries, screams, and explosions. Eventually, there was one last blast that filled the room with light.

We were all okay, but I had a simple headache. I looked over at Sabrina, who's eyes were shut tightly as she clutched her head in pain. "Help... me..." she groaned, and she fell to her knees, squeezing her head in agony. Out of nowhere, we heard a mischievous laugh - and then Sabrina began to glow with a purple aura. Her high-pitched scream filled the room, and then...

A purple ghost Pokemon floated out of her, laughing evilly and waved goodbye with a floating hand. A Haunter was controlling her...? But how? That's when I heard a loud _thud_, and looked down to see Sabrina collapsed on the floor. We all ran over to her.

"Sabrina? Sabrina, wake up! Wake up...!"


	12. Chapter 11

"I'm so sorry... I don't know what happened to me," Sabrina whispered, holding an ice pack to her head as we sat at a table in the back room of the gym. We were drinking green tea to help us all relax, and Rune and Sabrina's Kadabra seemed to be having some interesting conversations with each other. It looked like they were having a hard time focusing, though, with Amaya constantly pouncing on them trying to steal their spoons.

"That Haunter must have overshadowed me... I think he's been working for Team Rocket. They've been trying to kidnap me and force me to give up my Pokemon and teach them my Psychic abilities." She sighed as she took another sip of tea. "I have a Haunter myself, and he claims that he has no idea why a fellow Haunter would do evil things like that."

I nodded, setting down my teacup. "Team Rocket has been after me, too... It's not only that I've been messing with their plans, but they want their hands on this, too." I held up Sakura who reached out her hands to Sabrina, wanting to be held. I laughed. "This is Sakura. I found her egg one day, and my Pokedex can't even identify it. I think she might be an undiscovered Pokemon."

Sabrina looked up and down at Sakura, curious. "I see. I don't understand what they could use her for, except for getting famous. Though I don't understand why they'd want _that_, either - it would only expose more information about them."

"I never thought about that," I replied, setting Sakura down on the table. She waddled over to Sabrina and began to talk to her proudly. "Cheri cheri! Riiiii!" I laughed, and the gym leader picked up Sakura and cradled her in her arms, stroking the Pokemon's head.

"Team Rocket needs to be stopped. I could barely touch them and their Mightyenas; my Psychic attacks are useless against them." She replied, looking back up at me. "I just don't understand their motives. Why not just capture Pokemon the right way? It gives you more of a sense of accomplishment."

I nodded sadly, suddenly being reminded of Kin. "They'll even go as far as to kill someone to get to their goal," I whispered, hanging my head down to hide the tears that were brimming in my eyes. "They sent a Mightyena out to get me, and my Sandshrew died protecting me..."

Sabrina put her hand on my shoulder sympathetically. "Kin was brave, and he loved you, Keiko. I'll bet he's watching over you right now."

I looked up in shock. "How did you know he was a boy? And how did you know his name, even?"

She laughed and winked at me. "I'm psychic, remember?"

I chuckled back, and Sakura waddled over to me again and hopped in my lap. "Well, don't worry, Sabrina. I'm not going to let Team Rocket get away with any plans they have this time." I stood up and hoisted my backpack over my shoulder. "Well, I'd better get going. My friend challenged the other gym over there and I wanna see how he did. I'll come back to battle you again soon." I added, smiling.

Sabrina shook her head. "Nonsense. You helped me snap out of the trance I was in, and you even tolerated me after I started blowing up the whole place. You deserve this." She placed something in my open palm, and closed my hand. "Good luck with Team Rocket. Don't give up yet." She showed me and my Pokemon to the back door so I wouldn't have to go through all the Teleporters again, and waved goodbye.

I opened my hand to see a small, golden badge in my hand - the Marsh Badge! I didn't even have to battle her! I smiled as I made my way to the next Gym to see Katsu.

-----

"He gave you a Pokemon as your prize!"

Katsu nodded proudly and released his newest Pokemon. It had no neck, but that certainly doesn't mean it was fat - it was the most fit Pokemon I've ever seen. Muscular, brown oval-shaped body, grey skinny legs, with powerful looking feet with claws. He looked at me curiously before bellowing out, "Hitmonlee!" and kicking at the air as he showed off.

"He looks pretty powerful." I replied, impressed. "I don't think he'll help in Sabrina's gym, but he'll sure pack a punch - er, kick," I added, as Hitmonlee shook his 'head' and kicked the air, "In some other gyms. Speaking of Sabrina, I have quite an interesting story to tell you after you battle her."

Katsu nodded. "Well, I'll see you after we each beat the other gyms. Good luck with all those trainers. Maybe you could get the Hitmonchan if you win!"

I shook my head. "Nah, I don't need another Pokemon. I'm fine with these five right here," I replied, smiling. "I'll just come in and watch you fight Sabrina." He shrugged, and we went inside.

Katsu wiped out every trainer with Poochyena; he was biting and slashing his way through Kadabras and Slowpokes, and it wasn't long before we reached the gym leader room.

"So this is your friend?" Inquired Sabrina, looking at me. "His Pokemon seem strong, but not quite strong enough for mine." She smirked as she released Venomoth, who made a sort of angry hissing/clicking noise at Poochyena, taunting him and ready for battle.

"Uh... Do you two know each other?" Katsu asked, obviously confused. I shoved him into the battling section as I laughed, "I told you, I'll tell you after you win."

Shrugging, he began the battle before it started. "Poochyena, leap up and Bite him!"

"Venomoth, avoid the attack and use Supersonic on him!"

Just as Poochyena darted up to rip apart Venomoth's wing, his opponent emitted an extremely high-pitched sound. Poochyena blinked, and looked confused. Remembering the battle, he opened his mouth and --bit his own tail. Poochyena yelped in pain, and every time he tried to attack, he attacked himself. "Poochyena, eat these!" Shouted Katsu, tossing his Pokemon a couple of berries.

Poochyena quickly ate them, and seemed to be back to normal. Jumping up, he crunched down on Venomoth's wing, holding on tightly until Venomoth looked weak enough to attack again. Venomoth looked about to use Sleep Powder, but Poochyena insisted on taking a last bite on Venomoth, causing him to crash to the ground.

Sabrina returned Venomoth and sent out her next Pokemon, Kadabra, without another word.

Before Kadabra noticed he was fighting a dark-type, he let out a wave of Psychic towards his opponent, and was surprised to see Poochyena standing tall. Without being told to (or so it seemed), Kadabra focused on his target and clenched his fist, dashing towards Poochyena. The dark-type wasn't that stupid, however, and quickly evaded it by jumping just as Kadabra was about to hit him, and countered it with a painful-sounding crunch on Kadabra's tail.

"Keep using crunch, Poochyena! Don't give up yet!"

Poochyena did as told, taking every chance he could to bite the Kadabra, while Kadabra took every chance _he _could to use Focus Punch to wipe out Poochyena.

In the end, Poochyena was victorious, although looking a bit weak. Sabrina smiled, pulled out a gold badge and handed it to Katsu. "Congratulations," she said, and Katsu smiled and took the badge, admiring it.

"Way to go, Poochyena!" I exclaimed, and the Pokemon came running up to me, licking my face happily. I laughed as he pushed me to the ground, slobbering all over me. I pulled myself up and held Poochyena in my arms when he suddenly began to glow, a bright, white light. His muscles grew bigger and stronger, and his tail became more scraggly. I gasped.

Poochyena evolved into a Mightyena.

He blinked, looking around at his surroundings, and snapped to attention and ran over to lick me again, still as happy and playful as ever. That's when I blacked out.

-----

"Wake up, Keiko... wake uuuuup... Anyone in there? Alright, she's not waking up, Mightyena. Lick her face again."

I opened my eyes a bit, and everything was blurry for a while. When it all came to focus, I saw Mightyena happily panting over my face, looking down at me curiously. I screamed and scooted backwards until I came to the wall. Mightyena whimpered sadly, putting his ears back and curling up in a corner.

"Oh, good Keiko, you're awake! Did Mightyena scare ya?" Katsu asked happily.

"What do you think?" I replied angrily, crossing my arms. He frowned.

Sabrina chuckled as she watched us argue. "Did you ever have a mishap with a Mightyena?"

I noticed we were still in the gym, and I nodded my head. "Yes... I have." I rubbed the place on my head where I had been bitten, and I cringed at the memories. "It was nothing, really..." Katsu looked at me with an expression that said, 'What the heck are you _talking_ about?' I sighed, "Well, I think we'll be going. We 'ought to head out to the next town, or maybe just look around Saffron."

Sabrina nodded and waved goodbye, disapearing into the back room.

"So did I tell you what happened yet?" I asked Katsu, and he shook his head.

"Nope, but Sabrina did when you fainted." He put a confident face on, grinning. "So are we gonna get those Rockets, or what?" He looked disapointed when I shook my head. "What? But why not?"

"It's no use, Katsu. There's to many of them. Even if we ever managed to... 'get rid' of Giovanni, there's no doubt the other Rockets would form a new plan and organization on their own, and get revenge on Giovanni himself." I sighed, hanging my head. "And until they get Sakura, they won't ever leave me alone. And they'll probably come back after that, too." I hugged Sakura closer to my chest. "It's just no use."

He shook his head angrily. "No! Don't even say that! We _can _stop them... eventually. Everything happens for a reason, Keiko, and... The flowers, you got those for a reason, too. Don't you understand? Kin died at the hand of Team Rocket. You almost died at the hand of Team Rocket. All of us almost died at the hands of Team Rocket! All this can just stop if _we _stop _them_!"

I was shocked by his sudden speech, but smiled. "You're right, Katsu," I replied quietly. "But are you sure it's even possible to stop all of the Rockets?"

"We can get through this, Keiko." He replied, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I know we can," I whispered, closing my eyes, "I'm just not sure if I'm willing to."

-----

I looked sadly out the window of the Pokecenter, tears falling down my face, imitating the rain that fell to the ground. Everything Katsu had said... I couldn't handle it. Because I knew it wasn't true. He was only speaking with his confidence and not his brain. How could we have stopped all those Team Rocket members? Looking back, I kind of wish we had.

I closed my eyes, sighing and choking on my tears as I lay my head against the window pane, which was streaked with raindrops. Now I thought about the last words _I _had said. They were true. I wasn't willing at all; I couldn't bear to go through anything like I had with Kin again. I could just picture it: The Rockets coming at us by the hundreds, armed with dozens of Zubat and Mightyena, just ready to tear my Pokemon apart.

I broke down then, thinking of Kin and his cheerful personality. He was such a good Pokemon, and I let him die protecting me. I remember it all so clearly; his bloodied body, his vacant, emotionless eyes, and the scars that the Mightyena ripped into him that would be there forever, even while he rested peacefully in his grave.

But I still didn't understand _why_. Why did _I _have to stop Team Rocket to stop my Pokemon from dying? How was that fair at all? Why can't I choose my own fate, and leave the wrath of evil to someone else who actually cares? Someone who thinks life is actually _worth living _anymore.

Amaya bounded up to the sill, sitting next to me and purring softly as she rubbed against my head. I sniffed, stroking her silvery white fur as she turned to the window, pawing at it, wanting to go outside. "No, Amaya. No." I replied. She cocked her head to the side and whimpered. I sighed. "Fine. Just for a few minutes, okay?" I opened the window a crack and she leaped outside, gazing up at the silvery moon, admirng it. She let the rain soak her fur, tinting it a darker silver. Amaya seemed to glow in the rain; it was sort of eerie, almost as if she were...

And then, her eyes began to glow, as did her whole body. Her ears became more shorthaired and longer, and her once bushy tail was growing thinner and less-furry by the second. The once pure white fur was now fading into black, and blue, glowing rings appeared on her body.

"Eon," she cooed to the moon proudly, her voice now more mysterious sounding. The cerulean coloured rings glowed softly in the rain, and her bright yellow eyes gazed mournfully at the moon, though a smile was still on her face. I gasped, amazed; "Amaya... You've evolved into Umbreon!" She looked at me, and came back through the window, causing her rings to stop glowing. "Reon..." she replied, rubbing against me and purring again. Her fur was still soaking wet, but I didn't mind. I just scratched her head and smiled.

"You don't know how hard it is for me to know that I'm going lose you someday, too," I whispered, stroking her fur as tears rolled down my cheeks. She shook her head, nuzzling my cheek. "Umbre," she replied sweetly, "Eon." I sighed. Pokemon were so optimistic; it's like they could never dare to know anything but happiness or loyalty.

"We'll be leaving on the ship to Cinnabar Island soon, Amaya. Do you have all your things packed?" I asked her jokingly, knowing she didn't really have anything that needed to _be _packed. She gave me an enthusiastic "Bre!" before hopping to the foot of my bed, and curling up to sleep.

"I'm only two gyms away from the Elite Four. What other choice but to go on?" I muttered. "Right, and what motivation do I have at all? A shiny trophy, maybe? A full set of badges?" I looked out the window, resting my head on it. "How about I just toss my Pokemon now. Put them all in their Pokeballs in a neat little row, with a nice little note there." I sighed, shaking my head. "Why am I even trying anymore? What Katsu said was right; this can only be stopped if we stop Team Rocket. And you know what? I'm not going to risk it."

At this point I was ready to give up. Find a cliff somewhere and take the fall, and all this pain and suffering would be over; _without _me trying to beat Team Rocket. A simple jump and it would be all over.

I picked the forget-me-nots out from my backpack, twirling Kin's around in my hand, thinking of him. A smile spread across my face as I stroked the wrinkled brown stem.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kin."


	13. Chapter 12

"Saur, saur, saur, saur..."

Minoru waddled about the clearing with me, proudly chanting 'Saur' as we walked along. It was nice and sunny out today, and the grass was wet with last night's rain, and both elements being ones he enjoyed, he insisted I take him on a walk. The sky was clear and blue, without a cloud to be seen. My hands were stuffed in my pockets as we walked along.

"Bulllba?"

I heard the feminine voice of a Bulbasaur behind us, and I spun around to see her. Minoru dashed over, drooling over her as he always did with other Pokemon, and she just blushed (can Bulbasaurs blush?) and motioned for him to follow her. The two dashed into the forest, Minoru probably cheering in his mind for his good luck. A faint smile appeared on my face as I sat down in the wet grass, twiddling a piece in my hands.

"I miss you, Kin..." I whispered softly, looking up at the sky. "You shouldn't have ever done any of that. I deserve to be dead... not you." I smiled a little, as tears rolled down my face and onto the ground. "Have you been watching us, lately? Katsu says I have to stop Team Rocket, or everyone will..." I took a big breath of air, trying to stop myself from choking on my tears again. "Everyone will end up just like you."

Something began to cloud my vision as I gazed lazily at the sky; something black and cloudy. I couldn't quite tell what it was... It was billowing out from the east, covering half the sky with black. I sniffed the air and smelled... smoke? "Oh, god no..." I whispered. It couldn't be... could it?

I turned to the forest where the 'Bulbasaur' had led Minoru into and saw the smoke billowing out from the treetops. I gasped, and shot over there like a speeding bullet.

"Minoru!" I screamed, and I heard cries of pain come from deep in the woods, and without thinking I darted in. I came to a small clearing, fire licking the treetops and spreading across the plains. I fumbled for my belt, and nearly fainted when I realized I had left it at home.

Then I saw Minoru.

He was barely alive, doubled over in pain, his skin burnt black as he groaned. I picked him up in my arms and ran out of there, crying my eyes out. I ran far, far away from the fire, and dropped Minoru on the ground. "Shh, Minoru, it's going to be alright, okay?" I said, not convincing him or myself. He began to cry and I held him in my arms until I could no longer feel his heavy breathing. I lay him gently on the grass, and broke down, sobbing over him.

"Minoru... why? Why did you leave me, too? Why are you doing this?" I cried.

"He isn't doing this, you fool... I am."

I spun around, only to see the Bulbasaur that went with Minoru standing not to far away from me. I blinked in confusion. "Wha... what?"

"Keiko, you don't recognize a fellow teammate?" It chuckled, and slowly, it twisted and turned, morphing into a little floating Shuppet before my eyes. "Surprised that I could do so much damage to one little girl, Keiko?" He smirked as he floated in front of me. "Team Rocket hired me after discovering my amazing ability to transform, you see; but I'm no Ditto. Just a human trapped in a Shuppet's body, is all. Quite literally, at that."

I was fuming through my clenched teeth. "So you're a human, are you? Well show yourself! Let's see you try and fight without your powers!"

He chuckled. "I'm not truly a human. I was born a Shuppet, but I knew I was far to intelligent to actually be a Pokemon. Nonetheless, I'm sure you deserve to see the one who's been causing all this trouble, hm?" He laughed as he glowed black, arms extending from his body which was growing in size as he morphed into a human. His hair was black, and he wore a grey trenchcoat along with black jeans. "Silly child. You couldn't see what was right in front of your nose, all along..."

I glared at him, my teeth and fists clenched tightly. "Why...? Why have you been doing this? Why _me?_ If you want Sakura so bad, fine, take her! You can't do worse to her than you have or will do to anyone else!"

He laughed as if this were the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You ignorant fool! It's not about the Cherimu!" He exclaimed, still laughing. He stopped himself, and put a serious face on. "It's about _you._"

"Me...?" I replied, blinking.

"Of course it's you!" He screamed. "We murder your pathetic Pokemon to get to _you!_ Do you who you are, you foolish child!" I shook my head weakly as he went on. "You are the _chosen one._ The one destined to stop Team Rocket and every other source of evil in the world!"

I stared at him, dumbfounded. "...'Chosen one'? I... I thought there already was a chosen one..."

"Oh, you remember Ash Ketchum? Heard about him on the news a few times I suppose?" He replied, his eyes darkened. "We took care of that meddling kid long ago."

I dropped to the ground, sobbing. "I won't interfere with Team Rocket! I swear, just leave us alone!"

"Impossible," he scoffed, shaking his head. "There's no changing that. Eventually, forced or decided, you _will._" A smile grew on his face as he continued. "And who says it's all about Team Rocket, anyway?"

I shrugged, not quite sure what to say.

"I'm only using Team Rocket to get to the top. Those pathetic worms could all die as far as I care. By then I'll have plenty of power... And you... you can help me, willingly or not." He grinned. "Every time we've killed one of your pathetic monsters... The anger and hate that burns inside your icy little heart!" He screamed, holding both hands up as if he were holding a trophey in each one. "It's simply _wonderful._ The power that I hold, all from the immense hate that lurks in your heart!"

Tears welled up in my eyes again, as I shook my head. Me? He has all this power because of me...?

"Do you see who's fault it is now, Keiko?" He said, his voice lowering to a whisper. "I wouldn't have the power to do any of this if it weren't for _you_, my precious little energy source."

I shut my eyes, hanging my head and letting my hair fall over my face. I couldn't stand to look at him again. I couldn't stand him at all... Ever since I saw that Shuppet, I knew something was up.

"Oh, and I seem to recall..." He stated, holding a finger to his chin as he thought. "I seem to recall a young fellow, died to protect his master?" His face lit up as he came up with the name. "Oh, right! It was Kin, your little Sandshrew, wasn't it? Got killed by a Mightyena, did he?" He walked towards me and bent over on one knee to look at me.

I was shaking now, from all the anger and sadness inside of me. "Yes." I replied, emotionless.

"Well, I've got a little secret for you..." Shuppet whispered, lifting up my head with his finger. He leaned into my ear, and I could hear his sickening breathing. "I... killed... Kin..."

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore.

I leaped up at him, and we tumbled among the field and into a rock patch, my back crashing against each rock as we locked eyes, glaring at each other. My nails were digging into his skin as I kicked at him, doing everything I could to hurt him. No... _kill_ him.

"You idiot!" He screamed, and I could feel some heat as he began to glow black again, this time forming into something much worse than a human. His muscles grew larger and stronger, and a bushy tail extended from his back end while a mane grew down his neck and spine. The sick, twisted face of Shuppet morphed into that of a dog, snarling at me with piercing yellow eyes.

He quickly stopped us from moving, pinning me to the ground as he breathed on my face, baring his teeth and digging his extended claws into my skin. I was frozen still as he growled at me, and I shivered when I felt the blood roll off my arms. "Do you want to die the same way your little Sandshrew did?" he hissed, digging his claws further inside my arms. "Isn't this what you wished for last night, Keiko? Perhaps instead of a cliff, one quick swipe across the neck would do..." He held a claw dangerously close to my neck, the sharp point of it barely touching me.

"No... just leave me... be..." I replied, gasping for air. "I won't touch Team Rocket..."

He got off of me, but stood his ground defensivley. "We shall meet again soon, Keiko..."

I glared at him. "It doesn't mean I'm not going to tell Katsu all about you and what you've done, Shuppet." I replied, and he laughed and shook his head, slowly transforming back to Shuppet as he came closer to me.

An eerie, mysterious melody filled the air as Shuppet looked into my eyes. "Nonsense, you fainted in the meadow after seeing Minoru, don't you remember...?"

And that's all I remember before I fell to the ground, my head spinning as I could hear Shuppet's maniacal laughter fill the air.

-----

"Oh, Keiko... Please..."

I could hear sobbing, and I felt another hand gripping mine as I opened my eyes blearily, to find myself in a hospital room, lying in a bed. When everything came to, I saw Katsu with his eyes closed and tears rolling down his face as he held my hand with worry.

"Katsu...?" I whispered softly, and he opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Keiko... Keiko! You're okay!" He exclaimed, and fell to the bed with his arms wrapped around me. I could feal his tears spilling onto the bed. "Your pulse stopped every so often, and you stopped breathing, and... It doesn't matter, you're okay!" He sat up, and I could see his eyes were puffy and red. "I thought we were going to lose you!"

Amaya leaped on to the hosptial bed and curled up on my chest. "Breee," she purred as she rested her head against my neck. I smiled weakly and petted her. "What about Minoru...?" I whispered, hoping that maybe it was all a dream.

Katsu's face fell. "By the time we got there... he was gone." He hung his head. "I'm so sorry, Keiko... things like this can never be helped. I'm sorry."

I looked over at Shuppet who was floating a few feet away from us, glaring at me. I glared back at him and shook my head. "And yet sometimes they can be..." I sighed and sat up. "Katsu, why are we even bothering to go on? I put these Pokemon in danger every day, just so I can get a stupid trophey or some badges. Where's the morality in that! Two of them _died,_ Katsu! What's the point on going on this stupid journey anymore! What's the point in trying anymore, Katsu? In this journey _or_ life?"

He looked at me, and I could see the tears in his eyes. "Don't say things like that, Keiko, _please._ You still have Amaya, and Sakura, and Kasumi, and _me!_"

I crossed my arms and looked away, trying to hide my tears. "Knowing the way things are happening around me, all of you will die too. And I can stop all this by just dying myself..."

I couldn't tell if Katsu was angry or sad. He grabbed my arm tightly, almost cutting off circulation. "What about me, anyway, Keiko? What would I do without you! Where would I be now if I had never met you? You can't kill yourself, Keiko, want to know why? Because then I'd just have to follow your example!"

I looked up at him, trying to blink back tears, my whole body shaking. And then I began to sob, curling up in a ball and just crying my eyes out. "I'm sorry, Katsu! I just don't know what to _do_ anymore! There's nothing left to live for!" Amaya sat up and stretched, and rubbing against my cheek, purring. I just turned away from her. "Everyone I love keeps slipping away from me..."

Katsu sighed, releasing his grip on my arm. "They did an investigation, Keiko. They caught a Team Rocket member near the scene." I looked over at Shuppet, who smiled mischieviously and winked. I turned back to Katsu, who was going on and on again. "If you would just _try_ to stop the-"

"There _is_ no try, Katsu! There just _isn't_! There's no reason to try anymore! We can never stop Team Rocket, no matter what we'll do!" I screamed, sitting up now with my fists tightly clenched. "Just stop _saying_ that! Just stop it, okay! I don't care about Team Rocket, I don't care about this journey, and I don't care about _you!"_ I jumped out of bed and grabbed my coat, hurrying outside.

"Keiko, please, wait!" I heard him call, but it just made me walk faster. The Nurses were rushing after me, telling me that I couldn't leave yet and needed to be checked, but I just brushed by them and walked out the door into the cold afternoon air. Light grey clouds covered the sky, making sure not to leave one speck of blue visible to the naked eye.

"It's all over for me," I whispered as I hastily walked along. "I just don't care anymore. Every one of them can die for all I care. But not before me." I clenched my teeth, as tears of hatred, anger, and sadness poured from my eyes. "Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye, world..."

-----

I curled my toes over the edge of the cliff, looking at how long the drop was. "Long enough," I muttered, as I let the wind blow through my mangled hair. "I hope they've said their goodbyes by now..." I whispered, smiling like a madman. "This is what I dream about. Taking the fall to come see you, Kin... Minoru... I'm coming, I'm coming..."

"Keiko!"

I spun around. Katsu was panting, with Amaya, Treecko, Rune, Kasumi and Mightyena running behind him, and Sakura in one of his arms. "Keiko," he said, all the hope and enthusiasm lost from his voice, "Keiko... Please don't. We need you... Just hang on, okay? Don't give up yet..." He slowly walked over to me and pulled me away from the edge, looking into my eyes desperately. "Keiko, you're... you're going crazy... Do you listen to yourself talk? Please, just stay with us a little longer..." He took me by the wrist and started to drag me away. I didn't say anything, or do anything, just let myself get pulled away.

"I'm sorry," I whispered quietly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Katsu just looked back at me and smiled weakly. "It's okay, just relax, alright? We're going to the hospital now, okay? Then you can sleep and you'll feel better in the morning." His voice was shaky, and he sounded a bit doubtful, but I nodded anyway and stumbled along.

We eventually made it to the hospital, and the Nurses helped me to my bed. Amaya and Sakura immediately hopped up next to me, snuggling on each side of me. I smiled and let them sleep next to me. Katsu shut off the light and began to head out the door. "Get some rest, Keiko," he told me, "Goodnight." And he went out the door.

"Goodnight..." I whispered. Rune was sitting next to the bed, resting against the wall.

_Keiko, why did you try to kill yourself today?_ He asked me without looking up.

There was a pause as my mind registered the question. "Because I'm dead inside already, Rune. I'm already dead mentally... and now... I- I'm just a waste of skin, see? I can't think straight any more. I'm going mad, Rune..."

_You need help, Keiko._ He replied, his voice shaky. I swear that for the first time in my life, I could see tears in his eyes. _Do you know what it's like to see your master slowly go mad, every single day of your life? Do you know what that's _like_, Keiko!_ He fumed, his voice deep with rage. I shook my head meekly. _It's horrible! It's to much to bear! The way you handle things, you'll kill yourself without the need of a cliff!_ He shouted, clenching his fists that were now glowing faintly with psychic energy. _You need help, and now. Not just the talk-it-out with an adult help, you need medical help. You're not dead inside, yet, Keiko, but you're so close and I can't stand it!_ He closed his eyes and let tears pour down his face, forming a small puddle on the ground. _You are the only one I will ever serve, the only one that I could ever be loyal to. And to think that you nearly died today..._ Rune drooped his head. _It makes me want to kill myself, too. What else is my purpose but to be loyal to you, Keiko? Nothing! And if you were to die... so would I._

I sat up, but didn't look at him. I just closed my eyes. "I'm sorry, Rune. But... I... there's just nothing left. Everybody is going to die if I can't stop Team Rocket... and I just can't do that, Rune. I'm not strong enough, inside or out." I wiped my eyes dry. "And knowing that you'll leave me someday, too... You were my first Pokemon, Rune. How could I lose you? All of this can be stopped if I just disapeared... and there would be a new chosen one... And you guys could stay safe, and happy."

Rune shook his head. _I could never be happy without you around, Keiko... You're my master. The leader. The boss. If you left us, I wouldn't care if I died... I'd have no control or direction in life. You have to just try to hold on, Keiko. Because if you don't, the rest of us won't be able to, either._

Neither of us said anything for about a half hour. Just silence; pure, stinging silence, before I broke the ice.

"I won't... I... I won't do it ever again, Rune. I promise..." I sighed, and looked at him. "But... Will we ever be able to stop Team Rocket?"

Rune smiled up at me with a glint of confidence in his eye.

_We'll just have to find out, won't we?_


	14. Chapter 13

It took me a few weeks to get better; three or five, I think it was. They had me on medications, with psychiatrists... Everything in that time period is like a distant dream now, or perhaps more like a nightmare, but I'm just relieved that it's over. Shuppet mainly avoided everyone, and for good reason. I would have killed him if he got close enough.

"Keiko... wake up. You can leave the hospital today, remember?"

I immediately shot out of the bed, grabbing my backpack, my coat and all my other things. Getting out of this place was the only thing on my mind as I rushed out the doorway, running to meet my Pokemon who were all waiting outside anxiously. "Rune, Amaya, Kasumi, Sakura! I'm back, I can come back!" I shouted, and we collided into a group hug as Katsu walked out chuckling, with a Sceptile and Mightyena following him, Shuppet taking his time on the way out.

"You missed Treecko evolving, and Kasumi growing bigger. She had this sudden growth spurt; guess it's that time, eh?" Katsu explained, pointing to Kasumi. I looked up at her, and she was about half as big as a full-grown Kangaskhan. I smiled. I hadn't noticed how much she grew over one year.

"I did miss a lot, didn't I?" I said quietly, still trying to keep a smile on my face. "So, Katsu, when is the boat for Cinnabar leaving? After that, there's Viridian City, and then the Elite Four, right?"

He nodded, smiling and holding up his Pokenav. "The boat is leaving in about an hour, so we should get going... Cinnabar specializes in fire Pokemon, I think, so I can use Shuppet, and maybe Poochyena..." I winced at the word 'Shuppet', and Katsu looked at me in confusion. "What's the matter, Keiko? You okay?"

I shook my head slowly while Shuppet glared at me. "I'm fine, just a little... dazed. Let's move on, okay?"

He just nodded, and we made our way out of Saffron and to the harbor. Wingull were soaring above the ocean, squawking at random passerbyers for food, and quickly flying away after being threatened by their Pokemon. I chuckled at this, and threw a couple chips down for the poor Wingulls.

We finally came to the dock. The boat was huge, and a solid metallic white. People were all lined up ready to board, while we had to get our tickets checked and our baggage loaded. I cursed myself for being so slow; we would have been on by then if I had woken up earlier, too. Sooner than I could realize, however, we were already walking up the wooden plank to board the boat. Shuppet was eyeing the structure of it with a mischievious glint in his yellow eyes, and I couldn't help but be suspicious; I just brushed it off as nonsense, though, and tried my best to avoid all contact with him.

"Wow, the boat is huge!" I exclaimed as we stepped on, looking down over the sea. "I wonder how long it'll take to get to Cinnibar?"

"Not long, I hope... at the most I think it'll be a day. But there's plenty to do, so hopefully we won't get bored..." replied Katsu, clicking around on some things on his Pokenav. "By the way, did you see where Shuppet went...? He was with us when we were walking up to the boat, but he's no where near us now."

I bit my lip, trying to refrain from spitting out curses about the little demon. "No, I can't say that I have... Though I have a faint idea where..." I muttered under my breath, knowing Shuppet was up to no good and was going to spoil this cruise for everyone, or at the worst... No. I shook my head slowly, knowing even Shuppet couldn't endanger the lives of hundreds of people... Could he...?

"Oh, well, he tends to disapear like that a lot. I'm sure he's fine." Katsu replied, not seeming to be concerned at all. He put away his Pokenav and grabbed a brochure from his pocket, reading it over. "There's a buffet inside!" He exclaimed, eyes lighting up. "I'm starving, let's go!" He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me into the first room of the ship, which was quite obviously a buffet/resturant, judging by the dozens of tables lined up together, food stacked on them neatly. People were already grabbing food eagerly, piling it onto their plates.

"Come on, Keiko, grab a plate. It's free for the cruise guests!" Offered Katsu as he picked from the variety of food.

"No thanks, I'm not that hungry." I replied. "I'll just walk around the ship okay?"

He nodded, while Rune, Kasumi, Sakura and I began to walk away. Amaya, on the other hand, was standing next to Katsu, looking up at him and extending a paw, begging for food. I just chuckled, and walked out of the room.

The boat had just taken off. People were screaming and waving to all their friends and family, yelling goodbye over the sounds of others. I, however, felt quite out of place staring at the ocean while the sun set over the crashing sea, tinting it a bright crimson. Sakura closed her eyes blissfully and snuggled into my arms, making herslef comfortable to go to sleep. Kasumi simply curled up next to me; she was to big for my backpack now, but still rather young for a Kangaskhan. Rune just watched the sunset with me, not planning on sleeping any time soon, and neither was I. It was why we made such a great team, me and Rune; we were so alike sometimes.

"Oh, Kin..." I whispered to no one, the wind blowing my hair behind me. "...Minoru... I miss you guys." I hung my head over the railing, and I could feel icy cold droplets of water bounce up from the moving ship and splash on my forehead. "Rune, how come you never think about these kinds of things?" I asked him, suddenly noticing that he had never showed much sadness - or any other emotion - in his lifetime.

_Emotions are just a weakness._ He replied monotonously. _I do think about things, but I never let it stop me from getting where I need to. You can't love something and expect to have it forever - psyichally, at least._ We were quiet for a while, staring out at the sea together, taking in its beauty. Eventually, Rune sighed and looked at me. _At least, it's what I used to think. Ever since we began our journey... I don't know how to describe it. I just learned... to love._ His voice was a bit shaky as he talked, hanging his head. _And when Kin died... I knew what sadness was. And Minoru... but when you almost did... I knew depression. Anger. Pain. I knew it all, Keiko, thanks to one thing..._

"I'm sorry..." I whispered back, turning away. "I'm sorry."

_No..._ replied Rune, shaking his head. _Do you know what else I learned while traveling with you and Katsu? I knew happiness - the one thing I thought I would never have with a trainer._

We looked at each other, and I smiled. "You're a great friend, Rune," I replied, kneeling down and hugging him. He didn't do anything back, just nodded, and turned back towards the sea.

-----

"The sea is getting reckless, Cap'n. Are you sure it's still safe t'sail?"

"Of course! We've made it through worse. Just don't let yer guard down, and stay tough. Now tell th' crew to keep workin'!"

I fluttered my eyelids open nervously after hearing the conversation. I had always been nervous about these kinds of things, and now it was happening. I knew that we were probably going to be okay, but... somewhere inside, I also knew I was a goner. The whole ship was a goner, actually. I had an aching feeling...

"Rune?" I whispered anxiously, but got no reply. It was one of the rare nights where Rune was tired and actually went to sleep. I sighed, hugging Sakura tightly, and laying back down next to Kasumi, snuggling up against her. "It's going to be, okay, it's going to be okay..." I murmured, shutting my eyes tightly and trying to ignore the fierce rocking of the ship.

And then, a slight snap...

Louder...

More snaps... cracks... getting louder...

And then there were shouts, commands, and panic. Sakura opened her eyes, her lip quivering before she started to cry with fear. I ignored her sobs and stood up, shaking Kasumi and Rune, causing them to wake up and look around. I peered over the edge of the ship, and what I saw... was, well, scary, to say the least. Water flooding into the ship from the bottom, with the deadly ocean 4 feet closer to me than it should have been. "Kasumi, Sakura, return!" I shouted, and without an answer I zapped them into their Pokeballs.

"Rune, get in yours." I said quickly.

_I won't, Keiko. If this ship sinks, you and Katsu are going to need help._ He replied stubbornly. _I will not sit in the safety of my Pokeball and allow my master to drown._ I sighed. I couldn't argue with him.

"Alright, Rune, if... if you're sure." I replied nervously, and we dashed off to find Katsu. People were running around in fear, screaming, crying; it was just plain chaos. "Katsu! Katsu!" I shouted, searching desperately for him, not about to let one of my best friends to drown in the -

"Keiko!"

I turned my head, and saw Katsu running towards me, Mightyena bounding after him. "Katsu! You're okay!" I shouted back, running towards him. It was then that the boat hit a sudden, huge wave, sending people crashing to the floor - and some off the ship. Katsu and I landed with a _thud_ on the wooden deck, each of us sliding off in different directions. Really, it wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for one thing...

"Mightyena!" shouted Katsu, who was nearly falling off the deck, gripping Mightyena's paw with all his strength. The dark-type was hanging over the water, scratching at the deck as he tried to get up. I scrambled to my feet, stumbling over as quickly as possible.

And then I heard a how of pain, and a splash in the water. The force of Mightyena falling brought Katsu down as well, holding onto the deck for his life. I rushed over, grabbing his hands and trying to pull him up, Rune attempting to as well; his powers hadn't advanced enough yet that he could lift a whole person, but he tried, I knew...

"Katsu! Don't let go, just hang on! You can do it, please!" I screamed over the howling wind, as Katsu's grip loosened.

"But Keiko... Mightyena is down there! He was my first Pokemon! We have to help him!" He shouted back, tears rolling down his face.

"Please, Katsu," I whispered loud enough for him to hear, "Please, just hang on! We'll find him, okay? Just hang on!"

He shut his eyes, his hands slowly slipping out of mine. "I don't think I can anymore... Don't forget about me, Keiko, okay?" He whispered weakly, smiling, and before I could protest, his hands escaped mine, letting him fall to the crashing waves below.

"Katsu..." I whispered, my voice shaky and my eyes wide and brimming with tears. "No... No, for the love of God, _NO!"_ I screamed, and the boat began to crash down to the ocean, people falling in and screaming and crying. I held tightly onto Rune and my backpack, which held Kasumi and Sakura inside.

I hit the swirling ice cold water, struggling to breathe as I swam desperately for land. My legs and arms were getting numb, and Rune was holding onto my wrist tightly, pulling me along as he tried to swim. "Rune," I gasped as I began to run out of air, "Get in your Pokeball... I can't swim any longer and you can't support my weight.."

He glared at me, shaking his head. _I would never abandon my master, Keiko._

"Stop calling me that... I'm not your master, I'm your friend..." I replied weakly.

He gave me a small smile. _I'm not going to give up, Keiko. Don't worry..._

I sighed as my eyes slowly closed, my body refusing to work any longer. My vision began to go blurry, and then everything was black.

-----

_Keiko... are you alright? Wake up, Keiko... please wake up._

I flittered my eyes open to see Rune, Sakura and Kasumi looking down at me. They suddenly smiled, happiness alive in their eyes as they all tumbled on top of me in a group hug. I laughed as I sat up, gently pushing them off. "Where are we?" I asked, noticing that the island was covered in ice and freezing cold.

_I looked at your Pokenav, and it says we're in a place called Seafoam Islands._ Rune replied, handing the red device back to me. I looked at it, reading every detail it had about the island. It was very hard to find, and many scientists have trouble getting to it because of the cold weather. I sighed. "Perfect. Just perfect."

Suddenly, the reality hit me in the face. "Oh my God... have you guys seen Katsu? Mightyena? Amaya? Even... even Shuppet!" I exclaimed, standing up to look around for them. They shook their heads sadly. The land was barren, and there was only us, a cave and a field of ice. I sat on the ground, leaning against the outside wall of the cave. "They're gone..." I whispered sadly, tears rolling down my face. "...Or... maybe not?" I exclaimed suddenly, and reached into my backpack, and pulled out the seven flowers eagerly.

Two dead. Five blossomed.

"Amaya..." I whispered, smiling, "She's alive. She's alive, and she was with Katsu. I saw her Pokeball on his belt." I stood up confidentally after putting the flowers back. "Rune, Sakura, Kasumi; we're going to find them. If they're safe, they must have washed up here. The Pokenav says there's no other land for hundreds of miles around, so where else could they be?" I grinned, and turned towards the cave. They followed me, and we began the journey through the icy darkness of Seafoam Islands.

The walls were made up of ice; pure, hard, sheets of ice, with icicles ready to drop down on us at any second. The ground was covered in a thick layer of snow, crunching as we trudged along in the cold, searching desperately for any sign of our friends. We traveled for days, making camp in the middle of the cave to sleep for a few mere hours, though mostly we searched without sleep.

Everything was fine... and then disaster struck.

It started as a small crinkling noise, and a few _plop_s as if pebbles were falling to the ground. I thought of it as nothing, but when I heard a crash that sounded like glass breaking, I spun around - icicles were falling by the dozens. The ground was shaking now, rumbling with a mighty growl. Icicles crashed to their final moments, shattering everywhere, some even putting a deep hole into the ground.

"Oh, god!" I screamed, "Everyone run!"

And we did. We sprinted as fast as our legs could carry us, heading for nowhere. The only sounds were icicles shattering and the sound of our feet pounding on the ground as we ran. We would have made it, to, except for one tiny detail...

"Khaaaan...!"

I turned around to see Kasumi on the ground, an icicle through her arm, blood dripping out of her wound. I screamed in shock and ran over to her, lifting her up, Rune helping me with his psychic abilities. I ran as fast as I could with Kasumi in my arms, and Sakura sitting on top of her, trying to comfort her. Kasumi was crying and wailing in pain, but soon enough... we were out of there.

I came to an entrance to another cave, this one without the deadly icicles. I sighed in relief as I climbed inside; it was beautiful in here, perfectly shaped ice walls and floor, with a short, ice mountain type of structure in the middle. I lay Kasumi down on the ground, and just before I began to treat her wound, I gasped at the creature standing before me.

"Cuuuuuuu-no?"

-----

She was beautiful; a large bird, with curious crimson eyes. Her ice-blue feathers seemed to literally sparkle as she floated down in front of us, her flowing blue tail wavering behind her. She nudged Kasumi with her silver beak, and closed her eyes tightly, spreading her wings out to their full wingspan. A dew-like substance began to fall off her wings, landing on Kasumi and seemingly treating her wounds. I gasped when Kasumi slowly stood up, though a bit wobbly, and moved her arm around. The wound was gone, but a single scar remained.

"Cuuuuu," she cooed quietly, looking at me directly. I blinked, astounded by her beauty and ability to heal Kasumi. I slowly lifted up my hand and stroked her head, and the ice Pokemon seemed to smile and make a purring noise in her throat. "Who are you, fella? I've never seen a Pokemon like you before..."

"Articuno," she replied proudly. "Cuno, tiiii..."

_Articuno is one of the three legendary birds,_ explained Rune. _She is the bird of ice, and her two brothers are the birds of fire and electricity. Barely anyone has ever seen them._

"I see..." I whispered. "Thank you for helping my Pokemon," I said, turning back to Articuno, who simply nodded her head once. "You can heal... do you happen to be able to track people and Pokemon, too?" I asked, half-chuckling and half-serious. She shook her head.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps, and then a deep, angry voice...

"I've been chasing you long enough, Articuno, and I've finally found you..."

When I turned around, I gasped - I couldn't believe who it was...


	15. Chapter 14

"Katsu?!"

There he was, red jacket and messy black hair and all. Mightyena, Grovyle and Hitmonlee stood behind him, their eyes glazed over and emotionless as they hissed and growled at me. Katsu chuckled, slowly reaching down and lifting the Master Ball we had found off of his belt. "Wasn't it obvious, Keiko? Before Grovyle and Hitmonlee, all I had were dark-types. Kind of a tip-off, wasn't it? It should have been obvious, but I see you were much dimmer than I had expected..."

"But Katsu... why? Why did you trick me?" I stuttered, my eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"I can't believe you've forgotten already, you fool..." He responded, his smirk fading into a frown. "You were the 'chosen one', didn't Shuppet explain this to you?" Mightyena took a step towards me, baring his teeth. Katsu gently shoved him away as he continued. "We cannot risk to be stopped again... Our goal is never ending. Team Rocket does not give up, Keiko." A smirk came across his face as he held the Master Ball in front of him, eyeing Articuno. "You see, we've been after these three birds for years now... The power we have gained just by having one of them..."

"You already have one?" I exclaimed. I shuffled back until I hit the icy walls of the cavern, trying to avoid Mightyena as much as possible. "But how...?"

Katsu chuckled as he reached into his belt again, this time grabbing an Ultra Ball. He pressed the tiny button, and a beam of light set a bird-like Pokemon free from it's cage. It slowly took form of a bright yellow bird, with wings of flame. It cawed angrily at Articuno, who was now scraping the ice floors with her talons. "Moltres was an easy catch," He replied. "And after a while of training, he has become just like us... However, I think we've been stalling long enough." Katsu added, and snapped his fingers. "Moltres, Mightyena, Grovyle and Hitmonlee - kill them all except for the bird."

Mightyena let out an angered roar, charging directly at me and baring his sharp fangs. I screamed and slipped across the ice as he sprinted after me, snapping at my heels. Rune was fighting off Hitmonlee and Grovyle, while Moltres and Articuno dueled in the skies.

Blasts of fire and ice were being shot everywhere, every zap either melting the walls or adding another chunk of ice to them. I paused for a second to watch the battle, but a second was all he needed... Before I knew it, I was tackled to the ground, but not by Mightyena - by Katsu.

He didn't say or do anything, just looked into my eyes as I shook with fear. His usual amber eyes were now a bright, glowing yellow. I struggled to lift myself up, but his grip was unusually tight, and he was digging his fingernails into my arms. I winced as he leaned closer, and an eerily familiar tune filled the air...

It was the same song I had heard when I fainted, and had found the forget-me-nots. My ears were ringing, and my chest started to sting intensley. My head was light, the room was spinning... and the world went black.

-----

"Oh, my, my, my... Are you okay, child?"

My eyelids flittered open, sending my vision into focus and revealing an old woman looking down at me. A strangley familiar one, at that... Wait... could it be...?

"Get up, get up." She continued, grabbing my arm and pulling me up. She sat me down in a chair and brought over a cup of tea. "So you've come back, I see? What is your business here this time?"

"Come back...? Wait... you... You're the old woman who gave me those flowers, aren't you?!" I exclaimed, suddenly fuming with rage. "You! You killed my Pokemon! You did all this!"

She chuckled and rested her hand on my shoulder before sitting down in a chair across from mine. "A little moody, I see?" The old woman brought the cup to her lips, sipping the tea before setting it down again. "Indeed I gave you those flowers, young one, but I was not the cause of your Pokemon's death. Never would I kill such amazing creatures." She paused for a moment, thinking deeply. She then drooped her head. "Those flowers were meant to help you, Keiko. You need to stop Team Rocket before they get to powerful."

I looked away, crossing my arms and furrowing my brow. "Why should I? Team Rocket is just a joke. They've never succeeded."

"They will." she replied quietly. "They're planning on taking over, one region at a time. And they've come quite far, Keiko... Your hometown has already been overthrown, along with some of the others."

"Pa... Pallet Town was taken over...?" I replied, suddenly dropping my cup causing it to shatter on the floor. "Mom..." I whispered sadly, looking down at the broken pieces of the cup.

"It's getting worse as we speak, Keiko... You need to stop them, you see? Your Pokemon need you. Katsu needs you..."

"Katsu?!" I shouted back, jumping out of the chair and stomping my feet on the ground. "That good for nothing liar doesn't need my help at all!"

"He does, Keiko... That fellow you were confronted by was not Katsu... It was, in a sense, however. You need to help him." She looked away sadly, but quickly locked eyes with me again with a serious look on her face. "Keiko, right now I just need you to wake up... Wake up, Keiko."

"Wake up...? I'm not asleep, I'm just... I..."

Wake UP! We need to get you out of here!

"Wha... Whozzat..." I snapped my eyes open, and Rune was shaking me frantically while he dodged bites and slashes aimed at him. "Rune! What's going on!" I felt my forehead and felt the cold, stickiness of blood drenching it.

Oh, thank god, Keiko, you're alright... But we need to leave! Katsu and his Pokemon aren't giving up! He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as tears began to well up in them. Keiko, they... They've taken Amaya.

"What...?" I replied slowly, my eyes widening with fear.

They've taken her... her life. I figured that since she was strong as me, she could help us win, and I managed to get her Pokeball, but... He looked away, tears pouring down his face like a river. When I released her, she was already at her last breaths... She's gone, Keiko.

I didn't say a word. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, and I didn't curse. I slowly stood up emotionlessly, quietly making my way to Katsu as Rune looked at me in confusion. Katsu was just smiling sadistically when I came face-to-face with him. "Miss your little Umbreon, do you? It's a shame she's gone, she was awfully pretty..."

Before he could finish taunting me, I lunged at him, wrapping my hands tightly around his throat as he screamed, attempting to wrap his hands around mine. Rune rushed over, wide-eyed, but didn't try and stop me. Without a word, he let out a blast of Psychic energy at Katsu - and yet, Katsu was uneffected. Wait... Psychic doesn't effect dark types, and... Shuppet... Katsu... Overshadowing... Shapeshifting...

"SHUPPET!!"

Katsu laughed weakly as his eyes slowly became glazed over, his arms falling limp. "You've found me out, Keiko... Silly human. It's a shame the boy shall be going soon enough. As long as he has my energy, he'll be fine, but the second I leave his body..." Katsu's eyes slowly faded from bright yellow to amber, a lifeless stare in them as he tried to breath. I let go immediately as he started to cough and gasp for air.

"Katsu..." I whispered, grabbing his shoulders with worry. "Katsu, I... I'm sorry. Just hold on, okay? Hold on, for me..."

He smiled weakly at me, before silently shutting his eyes, his face turning paler by the second. "I'm sorry, Keiko..." Katsu whispered, and then all was silent. He still had a soft grip on my arm, but he was going quickly. The fighting stopped, and everyone only watched.

"No... God, no... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO!" I screamed, shaking his body and pounding his chest. "Wake up, Katsu! WAKE THE UP!" The tears were pouring down my face like a waterfall as I tried desperately to wake him up. Shuppet just smiled when I looked at him, his body slowly fading away until all that remained were his eyes. "I'll get you yet, Keiko..." He whispered, and when he closed his eyes, he had disapeared completely.

I hung my head, tightly holding on to Katsu's shoulders. "Please, Katsu. Don't go yet, we need you. I need you. I can't make it through this journey without you..." I lifted him into a sitting position and wrapped my arms around him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. "Please... please..."

Suddenly, I spun around, facing Articuno as an idea popped into my head. "Articuno... please help him. Please, I... I can't lose him yet... He's my best friend." I pleaded, tears rolling down my face. Articuno cocked her head at first, contemplating my questions. She shut her eyes as she flew down from her perch and next to us, making a low trilling noise in her throat. It was only a few minutes before Katsu's eyes slowly opened, locking with mine as I smiled deleriously with happiness.

"Keiko...?"

I melted at the sound of his name, and without hesitation squeezed him in a tight hug, sobbing into his shoulder. I let go when he started to gasp for breath, and let him re-adjust himself on the icy floors. "Ugh... What happened...?" He muttered, rubbing his neck and wincing. I explained everything to him. He simply hung his head, sighing a mixture of disapointment and sadness. "Shuppet... and I trusted him for so long, too..."

I smiled at him, understanding. "I know what you mean, Katsu. It's not your fault... He tricked you again and again, but it doesn't mean it was your fault." Katsu nodded, smiling a bit. I turned to the bird of ice who was smiling softly, standing next to us. "And Articuno... thank you. Without you I think that... well, we could've all been dead by now." I stroked her on the head, and she purred gently in approval.

"Rune..." I whispered, and he turned to me, already knowing what I needed him to do. "Teleport us to the harbor. Our next stop is Cinnabar Island."

For one last time, I patted the bird on the head as all my Pokemon grouped with me and Katsu in a group, and in the blink of an eye, we were gone.

-----

"Attention, fine guests! In about a half hour we will be docking by the Cinnabar Motel. We hope you have enjoyed the cruise so far and thank you for using our services!"

The voice on the intercom quickly crackled away, leaving Rune, Sakura, Kasumi and I to gaze happily out on the front deck, awaiting the moment the dock would show up- Sakura especially. The rocking of the boat had really been getting to her stomach, and she seemed the most estatic when we finally reached the dock.

Katsu and I carried our backpacks off the boat, having nothing much else to carry. Mightyena continued to walk beside me at all times, determined to apologize somehow for attacking under Shuppet's control. No matter how many times I told him it was fine, he just shook his head quickly and gave me a lick on the hand.

"Let's get to a Pokecenter." I said first. "All those battles on the ship seemed to tire everyone out."

Katsu nodded in agreement, and without stopping anywhere else we went to a center and healed up our Pokemon. So far things seemed to be going normal, but I knew they wouldn't stay that way for long. It never did, after all.

We made a camp just outside of the city that night. The sky was clear, and stars were twinkling brightly in the sky as I sat down with Rune. Katsu fell asleep almost instantly, using Mightyena as a pillow.

I wearily gazed up at the bright stars twinkling in the night sky, thin wisps of cloud racing across them. I smiled warmly as Rune and I enjoyed a well-deserved moment of peace, something we hadn't had for what seemed like forever. And though I knew it wouldn't last very long, I cherished it. Because I didn't need any proof to know that the ride was going to get a whole lot bumpier.


	16. Chapter 15

3:04 AM.

Every time I checked my watch, it seemed to be that same exact time. 3:03 felt like it was an hour ago; either I had a serious case of insomnia, or there was something that I needed to talk to myself about. I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the thought; after losing -- oh, what was it -- about half of my Pokemon, almost killing my best friend, and the fact that I was being hunted down by Team Rocket _and_ a Shuppet that could probably kill me at any time he felt he wanted to, I certainly _did_ have things on my mind that needed to be resolved.

I rolled over on my side and let an annoyed sigh escape me. Maybe if Rune was awake, I could talk to him, and...

"Rune?"

No reply.

"Rune, I _know_ you don't sleep. Don't try to pull that one on me."

I heard him sigh and he cracked open an eye to look at me. _Just so you know,_ he replied haughtily, _I was _not_ sleeping. Sometimes I just need to shut my mind down and... take a break and relax._

I grinned and laughed quietly. "That's what we call 'sleeping' on this planet, Rune."

He smirked at me, then closed his eyes again. _So, what did you want, anyway? Not that I don't enjoy being disturbed during my mental rests,_ he added, while shooting me a glare when I snickered at the last two words, _But I'd really like to get back to what I was doing if you don't have any interesting to say._

"Well, I did kind of want to talk to you," I replied, twiddling my thumbs.

Rune gave a weary sigh, as if he knew right off the bat what I was going to say. _About what?_

I rolled my eyes at him. "No, I'm not gonna _bore_ you with rants about my dead Pokemon, though you _should_ be a little more accepting to listen, on my behalf." He winced slightly as I shot him a death glare. "In any case, to be honest, I don't exactly know myself what I want to talk about."

The Kadabra sighed more heavily this time. _So, you woke me up to talk to me about not knowing what you want to talk to me about?_

Just as I was about to nod and reply, something hit me. "Woke you up?" Rune nodded, not sure where I was going with this. "A-_ha!_ So you _admit_ to being asleep!" I punched the air in victory and laughed, as Rune, his pride destroyed, chuckled sheepishly. _Okay, so I do go to sleep _some_times..._

I just rolled my eyes and clasped my hands over my mouth to contain my laughter. "I knew it all along, buddy, you didn't fool me for a _second_."

As our quiet laughter settled down, a long-awaited yawn escaped my mouth. "I guess all I needed was a good laugh," I muttered, eyelids drooping.

_Laughter _is_ the best medicine, isn't it?_ I smirked at Rune's late-night attempt to sound wise and gave him a playful punch on the arm.

"Oh, shut up, you big sap." With that, I let sleep take over me, allowing Rune to return to "resting his brain". But as I slowly began to drift off, I could still feel something eating away at me -- and that something _couldn't_ be good.

--------------------

I awoke with heavy bags under my eyes and a droopy expression, but I could expect nothing less from a night of almost no sleep. Yawning, I sat up and looked over Katsu -- still sleeping, of course. That would need fixing.

Pillow in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, I snuck to where Katsu was sleeping and dumped the bottle all over him, dropping the bottle and raising the pillow soon after. "Time to wake up!" I shrieked, laughing maniacally as I brought the pillow to his face in one swift motion, sending him flying into a laying-down position again.

Katsu quickly jumped to his feet, wiping away the water still on his face. "Keiko!" He shouted furiously, still in shock, "What the _hell_ was that for?!"

"That," I answered in a mocking, sing-song voice, "Was for freaking me out with the Mightyena mask in Saffron."

He crossed his arms and sneered, as if that in itself validated his point at all. "Hmph. All I know is that I'm good and ready to challenge Blaine... right after I recover from the _migraine_ you gave me after that pillow assault," Katsu added harshly, and Mightyena barked in agreement.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're so _cute_ when you get angry," I pinched his cheek playfully while Katsu wrinkled his nose, pushing my hand away and furrowing his brow to try to hide a slight blush that was creeping its way across his face.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So why are _you_ so chipper this morning?" He demanded, crossing his arms. I just shrugged as he went on, "Well, if you're too chicken to fight Blaine, fine by me, but I'm not going to wait up for you." He waved me away and began to leave, but not before I appeared before him, pratically growling at him.

"_Chicken_?!" I snapped back, "You'll be a _roasted_ chicken when I'm done with you, you little smartass...!"

Katsu just grinned and laughed as I chased him all around the island, while Mightyena and Rune just sat and stared at us.

_I'll never understand humans,_ I heard Rune mutter, and Mightyena just yipped in reply.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around -- it was only now that I realized that I was way off course, far, _far_ away from the actual city of Cinnabar. Katsu spun around when he realized I had stopped and raced over to me, panting and still recovering from his own fit of giggles.

"What'd you stop for?" He asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

After scanning the area again, I turned back to him. "We're a little too far from the city. I think we might be lost."

He smacked his hand to his forehead, sighing in annoyance. "Well, at least we've got help coming," Katsu nodded behind me, and I turned to see Mightyena running towards us, and Rune following not far behind. "Of course, not like they'll be much help in getting us back anyway. It only figures you'd get us lost in a place like this." He looked around at the barren wasteland; a few trees dotted the beachy scene, but nothing else but ocean could be seen for miles.

"Excuse me?!" I replied crossly, putting my hands on my hips, "We wouldn't have been lost if you hadn't stopped running!"

"If I stopped running, you would have beat me up!"

"Yeah, but that's not worse than getting lost!"

"Well, excuse me if I don't want your foot-long nails gouging my eyes out!"

We bickered back and forth for a few minutes before Rune finally interjected, bringing us apart and suspending us both in mid-air using Psychic. _That's enough,_ the Kadabra hissed, _It'd be better to try and get back to the city than to stand here fighting, don't you think?_

Katsu and I exchanged angry glares before sighing and giving up. "All right, fine," I murmured, defeated, "Just let us down, please?"

Rune nodded his head and dropped us to the ground forcefully, and each of us landed with a loud _thud_. I groaned and rubbed my back, while Katsu rubbed his... _ahem_, backside.

"Thanks for the comfy landing," he muttered bitterly, his face twisted into a sour, pained expression.

My Pokemon smirked before answering, _No problem._

Suddenly, something in the trees caught my eye. I could barely see it; it looked like a somewhat broken down house. "Hey, guys... see that over there? Maybe if someone lives there, they could give us directions or something," I muttered, and started walking towards it without checking to make sure they were following.

Turns out I was wrong -- this wasn't a house, it was a _mansion_, and a rather beaten up one, at that. It looked like it had been the victim of a raging fire, and many more natural disasters after that; shattered windows, broken walls, and rubble everywhere. Still, it seemed to be in good enough shape for people to take shelter in; and with any luck, someone would be in there and would be willing to give our group directions.

I pushed the door open, slowly, and winced as it creaked loudly. A couple pieces of drywall fell to the ground as I entered the room, looking catiously around me.

"Keiko? Keiko! Wait up for us!"

I turned to see Katsu and Mightyena racing towards me, and Rune fizzling into existance next to me. "Sorry," I answered as the rest of the group entered the mansion, "Let's go see if we can find help, okay? Then maybe we'll be able to get out of here..."

The three of them nodded, and we continued through the destroyed area, looking for any sign of life besides the few Rattata scurrying around.

After ten minutes of searching, we still found nothing. Katsu was kicking around a few rocks impatiently. "Can we leave yet?" He groaned, sighing restlessly, "I'm getting bored."

"There's a surprise," I muttered, rolling my eyes, "Alright, fine. We'll just walk around aimlessly until we find the city again. How does that sound?"

He just scoffed as we all turned to leave, passing by halls of ashes and rubble. A few old, broken paintings were on the ground, nearly unrecognizeable. Everything seemed to be normal so far, until a familiar pair of eyes appeared before me -- Shuppet's. I screamed, falling backwards onto the ground. Katsu reached down and helped me up, glaring at the Pokemon that was before us. Shuppet fully appeared and snickered as we quickly jumped to our feet.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he smirked, floating closer towards me and eyeing my belt that held my Pokeballs, "Who'll be next, I wonder?..."

"Leave us alone, Shuppet," I spat, backing away slowly, "I don't feel like dealing with you right now."

"Touchy, aren't we?" the ghost-type snickered back, grinning slyly, "I'm not here to hurt you... for today. Just wanted to tell you... _watch your back._" With that, he floated backwards, fading away into nothing.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "As if I need him to _tell_ me to do that," I scoffed, kicking the door of the mansion open.

Katsu followed me outside, sighing. "Well... Let's just watch out for anything suspicious -- though why he would tell us when we're in danger is beyond me, since we're the ones trying to stop him, anyway..." He scratched his head, confused.

"Don't lose sleep over it, Katsu," I answered dully, walking along. "He's just trying to scare us. Let's just go find the city."

An hour of searching and two arguments later, we finally spotted the city, bustling with people and tourists. The gym wasn't far off into the distance; a half-hour's worth of walking, at best, and depending on how eager the two of us were to get our 7th badge, maybe less -- and eager we were. The second we spotted it, we ran full-speed towards the fire-themed gym.

We stopped by the entrance of the gym, panting. "Hey, Keiko," Katsu said, "I can only really use Mightyena for this gym battle, since Sceptile would be burned to death if I let him fight, so... I was wondering, do you wanna trade Rune for Sceptile so I could use him to fight Blaine? I'd trade him back right after."

I thought for a moment, then turned to look at Rune, who just shrugged. _I'm fine with it,_ the Kadabra nodded his head. I could trust Katsu with Rune, surely, so I smiled and nodded. "Sure. There's a Pokecenter right over there; let's go!"

We made our way to the Pokecenter and into the trading room. "You sure you're okay with this, Rune?" I asked him, and he nodded again before I recalled him into his Pokeball. I placed the red-and-white sphere on the machine, and Katsu did the same with Sceptile. I watched as the pokeballs were sucked up, and after a few moments, I had myself a Sceptile.

"Alright, then," I attached the grass-type's ball to my belt, "We're ready. Let's go!"

At the gym, Katsu gripped Rune's pokeball confidently. "Alright, Rune, ready to battle?" He pressed the button in the center of the ball, and a red beam of light released Rune into existance, but something about him looked... _different_. He was slightly taller, though still a bit shorter than the average Kadabra, his tail had disappeared, and he seemed skinnier, yet more muscular, in a way.

"Wha-what happened?!" I gasped, reaching out to touch him.

Rune just grinned cockily at me. _I evolved into an Alakazam when I was traded,_ he answered simply.

"Awesome!" shouted Katsu, eyes sparkling, "This is so cool! Look at him!"

I laughed quietly as he gushed over my -- well, technically his, at the time -- new Alakazam. "Katsu, are you going to faint over him evolving, or are you going to go kick some firey ass in this gym?" I inquired playfully, raising an eyebrow.

He just chuckled nervously, and we all walked to the fighting area, ready for battle.

"Go, Mightyena!"

"Go, Arcanine!"

Katsu had beaten the first trainer with ease, and was now battling the second and last trainer before Blaine. I was standing with Sceptile, cheering on the sidelines wildly.

"Use Bite!" Katsu shouted defiantly. Mightyena barked and opened its jaws, showing glinting fangs as it bit down into the Arcanine's rough skin. The fire dog roared in pain, and without waiting for a command from his trainer, quickly spit fire at his opponent.

Katsu smirked. "Alright, Mightyena, use Thunder Fang!"

Electricity began to spark inside of the dark-type's mouth, dancing around his fangs dangerously. He took another bite into the Arcanine, electrocuting it and sending it reeling back in shock, falling to the floor, dazed.

"Arcanine! Quickly, use Hyper Beam!" his trainer shouted desperately. The Pokemon got up, growled weakly and began to collect energy in the back of his throat. With a mighty roar, he fired the blast at his opponent, sending him flying back from the kick. Mightyena's eyes widened with horror as the beam hit him and sent him crashing to the ground in a heap. Both Pokemon had fainted.

"Ha!" Katsu exclaimed haughtily, "Since I still have one Pokemon left, and you have none, I win!"

The fire trainer sighed and nodded, "Right. Blaine will be out in a few moments." He walked out of the room calmly after recalling his Arcanine. I ran over to Katsu, grinning and giving him a high-five. "Nice job, Katsu!" I congratulated as he sprayed a potion on Mightyena, "You think you'll be able to beat Blaine?"

"Of course!" He answered proudly, glaring at me in mock-anger.

I laughed and turned to walk back to the sidelines. "I think Blaine is there. Good luck."

Surely enough, the doors at the end of the arena began to part, and smoke filled the room. A deep, booming voice filled the room, "Hah! So you have defeated the previous trainers, have you?" The man chuckled. Something about his voice seemed to tell me he was nervous, distracted; but despite that, his voice was rather intimidating. "Then answer me one question, and if you get it right, you may battle me! So tell me, who is the legendary bird of fire?"

I couldn't see anything because of all the smoke, but I could tell Katsu was unsure. "Um, I think it was..." He fumbled for words, "I think it was... Moltres?"

"Hah!" The smoke dissipated, revealing an old, completely-bald (aside from a mustache) man, wearing a pair of sunglasses. A Rapidash was standing before him, snorting and stomping the ground with a powerful hoof. "That is correct! I accept your challenge, child!"

"Sweet!" Katsu cheered, punching the air in excitement, "A two-on-two battle! How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds fine to me!" Blaine laughed, "Go, Rapidash!"

"Go, Rune!"

The horse Pokemon charged forward, neighing loudly as Rune teleported behind it. Rapidash looked around for a moment, confused, then spotted its opponent and let swirling fire blast from its mouth, directly at Rune.

"Rune! Use Protect!" Katsu shouted.

Shutting his eyes tightly, the Alakazam created a barrier around himself. The fire bounced off it and shot back at Rapidash, who reared back in fear.

Blaine growled in frustration. "Rapidash, use Stomp!"

"Rune, use Confusion!"

Before Rune could comprehend what Katsu had ordered, a large hoof came crashing down on his back. With a scream of pain, he collected all the energy he could, and let a blast of psychic energy loose at the fire horse.

Rapidash stumbled around weakly, obviously confused. Unsure of what to do, it shot a fire blast from its mouth, filling nearly the whole arena with flame.

Once the smoke had cleared, Rapidash was on the ground, fainted. Rune, though weak, was still standing. Blaine recalled his Pokemon. "Rapidash, return! Go, Arcanine!"

The same species of Pokemon that we had seen earlier was let loose from it's spherical cage, growling fiercely at Rune.

"Alright, Rune, return!" Katsu demanded, and without protest, Rune was sucked back into the pokeball. Mightyena lept forward, snarling at the Arcanine. He was determined not to faint _this_ time.

"Mightyena, Dig!"

The hyena-like Pokemon began to furiously scratch at the ground, quickly creating a hole. He lept in.

"Arcanine, fill the hole with fire!"

I gasped -- with nowhere to run to, Mightyena was as good as dead. I shot a worried look at Katsu, but he just winked at me, as if to tell me he had a plan. I watched silently, completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

"Use Shadow Ball on the fire, Mightyena!"

When he said that, I knew what he had planned. I couldn't see it, but at the moment the dark energy collided with the fire blast, an explosion ocurred -- right under Arcanine's feet. The fire dog was sent flying into the wall, and crashed to the floor with a sickening _thud_.

"Don't give up, Arcanine!" Blaine demanded, "Use Take Down!"

Panting heavily, the Arcanine forced itself off the ground and charged at Mightyena recklessly, tackling it to the ground.

The two dogs fell to the ground at the same time, both of them worn out. There was a long silence, before, as if by some sort of miracle, Mightyena stood up shakily, and barked weakly with confidence.

"Arcanine is unable to battle," Blaine shouted, "Mightyena is the winner."

Both Pokemon were recalled, and Blaine walked towards Katsu and shook his hand. "I don't mean to be rude, but you seemed a lot easier than I expected," Katsu said as he was handed the Volcano Badge.

"I'm just feeling a bit distracted, that's all," Blaine answered, sighing. "Recently I heard that Moltres was captured by Team Rocket not long ago. That bird saved my life at one time, and the news is extremely upsetting to me."

I walked over Katsu after recalling Sceptile, and smiled sadly at the gym leader. "If it makes you feel any better, Moltres is still alive," I began quietly.

"How do you know?" He gasped, his expression brightening a bit.

"Well, to make a long story short, we encountered Articuno a while back. A Rocket member was trying to capture it using Moltres -- we stopped him, but Moltres is still in Team Rocket's possession."

Blaine sighed and looked at the ground, deep in thought. Finally, he looked back up at us. "I am too old to try and stop them myself. So hear my request," he took a deep breath before continuing, "If you meet up with them again, if you see them with Moltres, or any other of the birds again -- stop them. A graceful creature like that doesn't deserve to be held captive."

A few moments passed, and we both smiled and nodded. "Of course we will, Blaine," I replied, shaking his hand. He grinned and bid us farewell, watching us as we left.

To make a long story short, I returned to the gym with Rune back in my possession not long after, and recieved a badge after defeating Blaine. All of our Pokemon were worn out, so we let the Pokecenter take care of them. Luckily, there was a room available, for once, for us to stay in for the night.

"Katsu," I began. I was sitting on my bed, looking at the badges that sparkled in the case. "Should I... keep going?"

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Uh... What do you mean, exactly?"

"I mean, should I keep trying to get to the Pokemon league? If I really am some kind of... 'chosen one', and I'm being hunted down by a crazy Shuppet and the leader of a huge criminal orginazation, then I'm not sure that entering the Pokemon League and gaining any kind of publicity that would give away where I was would be a good idea."

There was silence as Katsu thought, tapping his foot. "Well," he began, biting his lip, "You're right. But you know, maybe after you get your last Kanto badge, we could just continue on to Johto and skip the league for the time being. I mean, I could still enter, but if you're really that unsure about it..."

I just shrugged and collapsed onto the bed, sighing and looking around the white room. It was so _plain_, so _boring_. Though, I guess I couldn't expect much less from a Pokecenter's bedrooms.

I looked at the clock: 10 PM. I yawned and shut off my lamp. "I'm exhausted. Goodnight, Katsu."

I didn't hear his reply, because in under a minute, I was asleep.


	17. Chapter 16

"So where's the next gym, again?"

We had just gotten off the boat that took us from Cinnabar Island to Pallet Town, and Katsu was fumbling with the Kanto map. After a few moments of him staring intensely at it, as if he were waiting for it to give him the answer, he turned to me and shrugged. "I don't see any gyms past Cinnabar. Maybe this is just a really old map, or something."

I sighed and snatched the map from him. "Look, the 8th gym is right here," I pointed to Viridian City, "It's not _that_ hard to miss. Anyway, it looks like we can just go north the whole time and we'll get there pretty quickly."

Not long after, we were walking through the Viridian Forest. It was thick with pine trees, and you all you could see when you looked up was a few pieces of blue sky between the spaces of the leaves. A few Caterpie and Weedle skittered about, and once in a while a Butterfree flew by; there weren't very many interesting Pokemon to be seen here, and considering how weak they were, battling wasn't an option. All in all, the long trek through the forest was rather boring.

...For the most part, anyway.

Not a week seemed to pass when something either exciting or aboslutely infuriating didn't happen to us; and, seeing as nothing notable had happened in the past two weeks, I was obviously watching out for anything suspicious. And nothing is suspicious about a Butterfree in the Viridian Forest, right?

Well, that's what we thought. Of course, we were wrong.

We were about three-quarters through the forest -- though considering the fact that the forest was a complete maze, that may be an overstatement -- when yet another Butterfree flew past us, though this time, it stopped directly in front of our little group, inspecting us with its long feelers.

"Uh... Katsu? What is this thing doing?" I asked nervously as the antennae brushed over my face.

"It's probably just curious, Keiko... just stay still and don't surprise it, otherwise it might think we're going to hurt it," he replied, standing as still as a statue.

I took his advice and didn't move a muscle, but that didn't stop the Butterfree from moving a few feet backwards and glaring at us. With a loud trill, it released a stream of yellow dust into the air, flapping it in our direction. I gasped and turned to run, but everyone had already inhaled the powder; soon enough, I collapsed to the ground, drifting to sleep. The last thing I heard before I was fully asleep was snickering, and the Butterfree being recalled to its Pokeball.

When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurred and hazy; once I adjusted, I blinked a few times before looking around at my surroundings. The walls were made of stone, and a few rays of dim sunlight poked through the iron bars that barred the small window. The same type of iron bars -- only thicker, and probably stronger -- were keeping us locked in some sort of jail cell. Except for the fact that there were no other cells here, this seemed to be exactly like a local prison.

It was then I noticed how cold it was. I sat down on the cement floor and wrapped my arms around myself, teeth chattering. Millions of questions ran through my head, and though the answers seem like they should have been obvious, I was still somewhat under the affects of the sleep powder at the time. Where was I? Where were my Pokemon? Whose Butterfree was that?

My questions were quick to be answered when a small TV that was inside the wall outside of the jail cell flickered on, revealing an unfamiliar face, but still recognizeable as -- yes, you guessed it -- a Rocket.

"I will not waste time on greetings," the man said, "You have an hour to decide whether we keep your and your friend's Pokemon -- and maybe we'll keep that boy, too -- or if we keep you, the girl. At this point, you should already know why we want you; you are the biggest threat to our organization. Choose wisely -- I will be meeting you in this room in one hour; that's 1:24 PM."

Before I could ask what exactly was going on, the TV shut off again, and I sighed, resting my head in my arms. It was rather dark in there, though the sunlight and a dim light bulb provided enough light to see.

At that moment, I could hear Katsu yawning and getting up. I just looked at him sadly as he suddenly realized where we were, a horrified expression on his face.

"Keiko..." he stuttered uneasily, "What's going on?"

I sighed. "We're in some kind of Team Rocket base. They're either going to keep our Pokemon -- and I don't doubt they'll take you, too -- or they're going to keep me, and we need to make a decision by 1:24 PM." I motioned to the clock on the wall that read 12:29. Katsu sat down on a rotted wooden bench, running his fingers through his hair.

"Great," he muttered, "Just great."

"Look, Katsu, I already know what I'm going to do," I answered, and he jerked his head up to look at me. "I'm going to let them take me. If I decide to save myself, they'll just keep our Pokemon and get me later anyway. It's a lose-lose situation."

He jumped up, trying to meet my eyes but failing; my gaze was stuck on the ground. "Keiko, you can't go with them!" he exclaimed, clenching his fists, "They'll probably kill you, or... or worse!"

I shrugged. "I know, but I told you before -- there's no winning this time. You guys could try to break me out or something, but there's no way I'm going to sacrifice all our Pokemon's lives for my own."

A long silence passed between us; he didn't want to admit it, but I know that he knew I was right. Without a word, he sat back down on the bench, and I walked over and sat down next to him. I gave him a sad but slightly reassuring smile. "Come on, you guys will be fine. All they really need is me, and then they'll leave the rest of you alone."

Katsu groaned, rubbing his head in frustration. "How many times do I need to tell you this, Keiko?" He locked eyes with me. "You're my best friend, okay? I care about you and what happens to you."

I couldn't help but blush; maybe he didn't mean it that way, but it was still a bit awkward. "I know." I answered quietly, looking at the floor, "But I care about you too, you know. I don't want to let anything... happen to you."

He smiled at me, and another silence occurred. I looked up at the clock again -- 12:42 PM. I didn't have much longer before I might have had to say goodbye to my friends forever. With a heavy sigh, I rested my head on Katsu's shoulder, and he just responded by wrapping his arm around my shoulders, holding me tightly. And, well, neither of us seemed to want to move.

Though it had only been fifteen minutes, it felt as though hours had passed when I finally lifted my head off him and sat straight, sighing and looking away. I could feel tears stinging at my eyes, and I tried desperately to hold them back.

"Keiko... are you okay?" Katsu asked, letting me go and trying to look me in the eye again.

"...No," I answered simply, my voice wavering, "It's just kind of scary to know that I might not ever see you guys again... And besides that, I don't know what Team Rocket is going to do with me. I... I don't want to die. Not anymore, at least."

He smiled. "You know, it may sound weird, but it's nice to hear that last part."

I smiled back at him, then turned my head and looked out the spaces between the bars of the window. Somehow, I felt happy and sad at the same time. "I know what you mean. It's nice to be able to say it truthfully, too."

--------------------

1:23 PM. It was almost time.

The second I saw the time on the clock, I could feel the tears coming back. I kept rereading the clock, hoping that maybe the time would go back and change, but I was stuck with the numerals that it had. Katsu was looking away; he seemed close to tears. Without hesitation, I leaned in and hugged him tightly, crying softly into his shoulder. "Tell all my Pokemon that I love them," I looked up at him slowly, looking into his eyes. "You won't forget me, right?" I whispered.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied quietly, holding onto me like his life depended on it. It was then that the clock struck 1:24, and the door to the room of where our cell was flew open. The same Rocket I had seen earlier walked in, a key in his hand.

"Your decision?" He asked bluntly.

I let go of Katsu and stood up, smiling sadly at him one more time.

"You can take me. Let Katsu and my Pokemon free," I answered, and he unlocked the door, grabbing me roughly by the wrist and dragging me along. Before we left the room, however, he chucked a bag at Katsu.

"Those are all the Pokemon we took from you. The exit is right down this hall, to the left, down the stairs and then another left. No one will bother you, just make haste." With that, Katsu snatched the backpack, jumped up, and ran out of the cell.

We were all at the doorway before any of us left. The Rocket sighed impatiently, "Hurry up and say your goodbyes, kid. This'll be the last time you'll be seeing your little girlfriend."

I was somewhat surprised that neither of us said anything to that, though we weren't really in the mood to deal with those comments at that moment. "Bye, Keiko. I'm not going to let them keep you," Katsu said in a shaky voice, and he reached out to me and wiped some tears away. Before I could reply, he leaned in and pecked me on the cheek before turning and walking away slowly.

I could feel my whole face turning red; I wasn't sure what his intentions were at the time, but it didn't matter to me. "...Goodbye, Katsu," I whispered, just barely loud enough for him to hear me. He turned his head, and we both smiled sadly at one another before the Rocket tugged on my wrist again and began pulling me away.

"Come on, kid. Time to go," he hissed, and it wasn't long before I could no longer see Katsu. I sighed, and followed obediantly.

--------------------

Three flights of stairs later, I was led to a dimly lit room, and I was thrown into yet _another_ jail cell; the difference was that there were other cells around me, with other people in them. Some were starving to death, some looked insane, and some looked perfectly fine, despite the fact that they seemed depressed due to the fact that they were imprisoned in this place.

The Rocket locked the door. "Don't worry," he smirked, "You'll be kept alive. If you die, that just leaves another 'chosen one' to be born for us to deal with. Enjoy your stay." With that, he turned swiftly and left, slamming the iron door behind him.

I kicked the bed, and it bounced and creaked noisily. I crossed my arms, not bothering to try and hide my tears. It was only when I turned around and saw a young man in the corner of the cell, smirking at me, that I noticed I had a cellmate.

"Having fun, Keiko?" he taunted in an all-too-familiar voice. Immediately, my face went red with anger and my fists were clenched so tightly that my knuckles were already white.

"Shuppet!" I shouted angrily, charging at him and raising a fist in the air to punch him. "You little bastard! Why the hell can't you leave me alone?!"

He easily stopped my fist with his hand. "Such rude words coming from such a pretty little girl," Shuppet teased. I lowered my fist and backed away from him. "I hope now you understand that you just can't win, Keiko."

"Why do you insist on torturing me like this?!" I shouted, "I just want a normal life, okay? I don't _want_ to be the 'chosen one'! And since when does someone need to be _chosen_ to do something good for the world, huh? Why me, out of all people?"

"Because," he explained, "You are the one with the heart to do it. You are the one who has a chance to do it. Sure, someone else can come along and try, but their likliness of succeeding compared to you succeeding is pathetically low. That's why we're keeping you trapped here."

"Dammit," I whispered shakily, tears rolling down my face, "God dammit!" I turned away quickly and sat down on the bed, burying my face in my arms and crying. I lifted my head slightly to see Shuppet fading away, as a ghostly tune played; it was high-pitched and stung my ears like I couldn't believe. By the time Shuppet was gone, everything turned to blackness.

--------------------

Something about this place was familiar, yet different; the trees were leafless and looked burnt, and the grass was dead and yellowed. When I stepped into the small, out-of-place building, I instantly recognized it.

It was the flower shop.

The woman was there as always, sitting idly in a wooden chair, staring into the distance. She looked at me, but said nothing.

"What am I doing here?" I asked her, not bothering to make small talk. She turned towards me.

"Something bad is going to happen to you soon," the old woman answered dully, "And if you don't stop it..." Her voice trailed off as she stood up, grabbing a book from her desk and flipping open to a dog-eared page. "'It is said that the world began with chaos, and will end with chaos, lest the Chosen One stops Him. If the Chosen One fails to do their duties, He will prevail, and Darkness will engulf the world. If this is to happen, the Original One, Arceus, will be reborn as an egg in the center of the Earth -- the center of the Chaos -- to stop the Darkness and rid the universe of its biggest source of corruption. When the egg hatches, history shall repeat itself; Arceus shall be born again, and a new universe will be born with Him, and so the cycle repeats.'" She closed the book and set it gently down on the table.

"You mean to tell me that the entire world is literally at risk of imploding on itself unless _I_ stop 'Him'?!" I shouted, eyes widening, "This is insane! How can this kind of responsibility be put on the shoulders of an emotionally unstable thirteen-year-old?!"

The woman sighed and looked away. "Those facts mean nothing. The only thing that matters is that _you_ need to stop Him."

"So who is 'Him', anyway? Giovanni? Shuppet?" I demanded crossly.

"He is the bringer of nightmares and the bringer of death," she answered simply, "In old legends he is usually referred to as... Darkrai," she whispered the last word extremely quietly, as if his very name would cause her to die that very second.

"Darkrai..." I muttered. Somehow, the name sounded familiar to me. "So tell me something, lady, is all this really going to happen if I don't stop 'Him', or is it just a big metaphor that's supposed to teach me about how fantastic peace and love is?"

She frowned. "As much as I would love to tell you that it's just another cheesy metaphor, it's not. Though it wouldn't be as obvious as it sounds in the legend, I'm afraid that it could happen."

"This is crazy," I said, "I feel like I'm going to faint."

"Escape from your prison as soon as you can, Keiko. You need to stop Him as soon as you can," she went on, ignoring my previous statement. "In any case, you should be going now."

My head began to feel even lighter, and I rubbed it furiously and leaned against the wall. "Wait one second," I said suddenly, realizing something, "I don't even know who you are, yet I've seen you plenty of times. So who are you?"

There was a few seconds of silence before she turned to face me, looking me directly in the eyes. The room was spinning now, and my vision was blurring, and I could barely hear the last two, simple words she said to me before I fainted again.

"I'm you."


	18. Chapter 17

When I finally came to, I was alone in my cell again, as I had expected. I sighed, rubbing my pounding head and sitting down in the corner of the room. Everything that had just happened in the last half hour or so was _way_ too much for me to handle right now.

I felt scared. Weird, right? I mean, they told me straight out how they were going to keep me alive and healthy, so what was I to be scared about? Even now, I'm not sure, but all I know is that when I think about that day, shivers run down my spine.

Maybe it was the fact that I'd never see Rune, Kasumi, Sakura or Katsu again; though I guess I should have gotten used to seperation by then, I really hadn't.

But I digress.

They fed me barely-tolerable, though seemingly safe food three times a day, nothing more and usually nothing less. I'm not sure how to describe it, really -- it was often just a cheap imitation of normal foods, and every bite tasted either sour, bitter or rotten; even the _water_ tasted like it had been left outside for days. Regardless, it was the only food I was being given, so I learned to tolerate it.

For the time I was there, I _did_ learn something useful; those Rockets must think the prisoners are deaf. That, or they never learned how to whisper. Anyway, I overheard quite a bit of some of their goals; as it turned out, they didn't just want the power of the three legendary birds, but it seemed that they were planning to also go after the three legendary beasts, Lugia, Ho-oh, and a few others that I hadn't even heard about -- Celebi and Jirachi were among those, though I soon managed to find out what they were, and why Team Rocket -- or anyone -- would want them.

"What would they _do_ with all those Pokemon?" I muttered to myself one day, pacing the room and staring at my feet. "They've got to have a bigger goal than just using them to take over the world... Unless, maybe, they're using them to get to a higher being? Perhaps... Mew?" I let out a restless sigh and sat down on the bed, leaning on the wall. What did it matter? I was going to be here for as long as I would live, so whatever their plans were wouldn't really affect me.

I kept thinking that until about a week into my stay. I heard chaos going on outside the jail room; screams, commands, and even Pokemon being let out of their Pokeballs. Everyone who was in a cell, including me, was now right near the doors, gripping the iron bars and peeking out.

Eventually, the noises died down, and all of a sudden, the heavy door was thrown open, crashing loudly into the stone walls. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Katsu, being dragged in forcefully by the arm. The door to the empty cell across from me was opened, and Katsu was thrown roughly against the wall, causing him to land on the ground, wincing.

"Your execution is in ten minutes, kid. Enjoy your final moments," the Rocket said emotionlessly.

I could only stare into his cell in horror, jaw dropped. My head felt light; I was having troulbe comprehending everything that had happened within the last week or so. World ending... The old lady was _me?_ And now Katsu was here, and he was going to be _executed?!_ I would have fainted -- _again_ -- right then and there, if the majority of my mind wasn't telling me to stay focused on the fact that Katsu was going to die in a half hour.

"Katsu...?" I whispered, voice wavering, "What did you do?"

"Hey, Keiko," he responded, getting to his feet weakly and walking over to the door of his cell. "The Pokemon and I tried to free you. We made it pretty far, but... there were too many Rockets, and so here I am. I guess they don't want me causing any more trouble, so the only solution for me to... die."

I still had trouble believing it. My whole body was shaking, and I backed away from the bars slowly, my mouth still hanging open. I kept walking until I hit the cold wall, and all I could do was hold both my hands to my mouth. "Die...?" The very word made my blood run cold. I could feel my face paling; even my hands seemed to be getting whiter. My knees began to give out beneath me, and I slowly lowered myself to the ground, shaking visibly.

"Yeah, and I only have a few minutes left..." Katsu paused for a moment, then looked directly at me. "Keiko..." he started quietly, gazing at me through the bars, "Listen to me. There's a few things you need to know."

I looked back up at him. "What?"

"You know you're my best friend, right?" He started simply, and I nodded. "...Good. Just remember that. Oh, and, before I go... take this." He pulled something out from inside of his jacket, and rolled it through the bars and over to me. I slowly stood up, walked over and reached my hand out of the bars and grabbed it, and in the dying light, I could see that it was the scratched up pokeball that belonged to Rune. I stared at it for a few moments. "They took the rest of our Pokemon," Katsu said suddenly, causing my head to jerk up. "But I managed to smuggle Rune in here with me. Maybe you can use him to..."

At that moment, the door to the room began to open, and I quickly hid the pokeball in my pocket. The Rocket opened the cell door and took Katsu out roughly, and I clutched the iron bars to my cell so hard my knuckles turned white. Both of us were silently crying.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't want you to do, okay, Keiko?" he whispered.

I nodded my head. "I won't, Katsu... I won't. ...Goodbye."

"Bye," he replied, before he was finally pulled out the door.

--------------------

Barely a minute had passed before I finally took Rune's pokeball back out and released him. For a few moments, he seemed confused, until I explained to him what had happened to Katsu and why he was with me.

"We're going to save him, Rune," I said after a few moments of silence.

The Alakazam nodded his head. _Of course -- and I know just how to start._

He shut his eyes tightly as his hands began to glow and the air around him grew cold. Keiko watched silently as the lock began to shake and rust, seemingly on its own; however, right as it was about to shatter, a sudden beam of black and purple was fired at Rune. My Pokemon tumbled to the ground, shocked by what had just happened.

Shuppet began to appear, this time in his natural form. I clenched my fists, shaking with rage. "Just go now, Shuppet," I hissed, "I don't want to have to make Rune hurt you."

"Oh, I have plenty of dark-type attacks fit to kill that pathetic excuse for a Pokemon," the ghost-type replied, grinning wickedly, "But right now, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to keep you from leaving." A dark, translucent wall of energy suddenly appeared from Shuppet, spreading around the entire cell. "And a wall of dark energy is just the thing to stop a psychic Pokemon from trying anything funny. Clever, aren't I?"

I ignored him, and looked at Rune, who nodded at me. "Rune, do you know any attacks that aren't psychic-type?" I asked quietly. He nodded. "How many?"

_I know enough,_ he answered simply, and without another word, he closed his eyes again. Electricity began to spark and crackle around him, and in an unbelievably quick amount of time, a bolt of lightning was shot at Shuppet, hitting him dead on.

The Shuppet was shaking visibly after the attack, somewhat shocked. He quickly shook it off, however, and glared fiercely at Rune. Shuppet began to fade away quickly; he soon appeared behind Rune, a ball of dark energy hovering in front of him.

"Rune, use Protect, quick!" I shouted desperately. The psychic-type turned his head quickly and saw his opponent about to fire, and created a strong forcefield around him. However, the second the barrier was created, the blast was fired by Shuppet, and it collided with the other mass of energy, sending it flying back at the ghost.

This would have been to our advantage, if I was not standing so close to Shuppet as I had been. The remains of the attack hit me head-on -- literally. I screamed loudly, clutching my head in pain. It was throbbing, it was heavy, it was aching, it was spinning; every kind of headache you could have, I had it. Rune looked at me, shocked, but I waved him away, begging silently for him to keep on battling Shuppet.

Luck was on my side, and he understood. All I could hear were the cries of the two Pokemon as they fought ferociously, battling with thunder, fire, and any other elements they could.

Finally, my head felt well enough for me to tolerate opening my eyes and watching the remainder of the battle. Both Pokemon seemed weak, and the dark forcefield around us was flickering and getting weaker by the second. Just as Shuppet looked ready to attack again, Rune quickly managed to zap him with another powerful Shock Wave.

Miraculously, Shuppet fell to the ground, shaking painfully. The forcefield around us slowly dimmed, and eventually it was gone. I didn't even need to tell Rune to break the door open; he had already shattered the lock, and I ran to the door, opened it, and ran, pulling the iron door to the main part of the building as I sped out. I could hear Shuppet's wavering, weak voice shouting to us as we ran.

"I'll get you, you little bastards! You hear me?! You'll be seeing me again!"

--------------------

We ran as fast as we could, following the arrows on the signs to the "Execution Room". Of course, we didn't get far before we met up with a Rocket, who instantly recognized us as prisoners. He charged at us, holding a taser gun in one of his hands.

"You know what to do with him, Rune," I commanded, and I just smirked to myself when I heard an explosion and a couple of screams.

Rune was quickly back with me, running equally as fast -- if not faster than I was. Rockets were chasing after us, fumbling for their pokeballs, but my loyal Pokemon just created explosions behind us, sending them all flying backwards.

We eventually made it to the Execution Room; the door was locked tightly, and I peeked in the window to see a dimly lit room. It was rather plain, and in the center there was Katsu sitting in a chair, bound by chains around his neck, wrists and ankles. A few Rockets stood nearby, idly talking to each other. My blood went cold when I saw one mutter some words to Katsu, take a syringe out, and put it dangerously close to my friend's arm. Tears stung at my eyes as I watched in horror.

Without a word, Rune had already forced the door open and we ran inside, quickly locking it again behind us.

"Rune, use Protect on you, me and Katsu! Blast everyone else away!" I commanded quickly, and before the Rockets could react, they were suspended in the air. In less than a second they were all screaming, clutching their heads in pain. Finally, they were dropped to the ground -- every one of them unconcious.

"Rune, break the chains." My command was essentially pointless, however; he had already begun to make them rust, causing them to crack and break.

The poison had already started to take its course through Katsu's bloodstream; he was struggling to breathe, gasping for air helplessly. I could only watch, tears in my eyes. I felt terrible that I couldn't do anything for him. It wasn't long before the chains completely shattered. I grabbed Katsu by the arm, helping him up.

It was then that he began to cough, and I was horrified when I saw blood trickling down his chin. He fell to the floor, coughing up blood and breathing weakly. "Katsu, please try to hold on," I pleaded, "Rune, see if you could carry him using Psychic. Keep him concious for as long as you can."

He obeyed, and we ran as fast as we could out of the room, blasting away any Rockets that tried to meddle with us.

When we finally made it out of the building, we ran past the endless rows of trees; we seemed to be dangerously far from civilization.

When I decided we were far enough away, I fell to my knees, shaking and crying as Rune stopped next to me. He gently Katsu down to the ground in front of me.

I lifted Katsu into a sitting position, holding him up with my hand on his back. His shirt was covered in blood, and his face was deathly pale. My eyes met his, and he managed to talk despite his labored breathing.

"Promise you won't forget me?" He quoted me, smiling weakly.

Tears blurred my vision as I held onto him tightly. I wanted to run away and cry, but I didn't; I had to stay there with him. I managed to half-force a smile back at him, quoting the reply he gave me a week ago, "I wouldn't dream of it."

With that, his breathing began to die away, his eyes slowly closed, and he went limp in my arms.


End file.
